Future Expectation
by Tenshi no Tsukikage
Summary: Sequel to Past Experiences. Akatsuki, the Chuunin Exams, Itachi being tempted by power, and that bastard Kane. As soon as things settle down, Sakura finds her life spinning out of control. SakuraItachi SakuMultiple
1. Prologue

**Tsuki-chan: After all this time, I finally started the new story! Sorry it took so long, it's just that it was hard to begin a new story. TT . TT I hope u can forgive me.**

**Enjoy the new story, Future Expectations!**

**Summary**: Akatsuki, the Chuunin Exams, Itachi being tempted by power, and that bastard Kane. As soon as things settle down, Sakura finds her life spinning out of control.

**Pairings**: SakuraItachi SakuSasukeNarutoGaaraNejietcetc (Saku's the younger Sakura)

**READ THIS PART PLEASE!**

Yes, I changed Sasuke's parents name to Fugaku and Mikoto. I know that's their true names, I didn't know until after I wrote the story. Now I am going by their real names so please, PLEASE, stop telling me that I used the wrong names. It's not that I don't appreciate you guys trying to help me; it's just that I already said this in the previous chapters of Past Experiences but no one bothered to read it and they continue pestering me about it!

THANK YOU AND ENJOY THE PROGLUE!

* * *

"_Where am I?" Sakura looked around. There wasn't anything surrounding her, only darkness. She jumped back when before her was another her! Sakura's pink hair was now all the way to her waist tied into a single tight plait and held up on the back of her head by senbon. Her doppelganger smiled at her._

_Unlike Sakura's own emerald eyes, her copy's eyes still retained the childlike innocence. Her copy lifted its hands and placed it on Sakura's cheek with the black gloves, the gloves Itachi had gotten her for her birthday. The material felt soft under her skin, betraying none of the weariness it must have gone through fighting with her._

_Like her own clothes, her copy wore the same thing. It was the same style she had worn before her whole fiasco going back in time. Her copy smiled at her, wrapping her arms around Sakura's neck so that they were nose to nose. The innocent eyes seemed so menacing. "Who are you?" her copy whispered to her with those gentle eyes.  
_

* * *

"Sakura-neechan, Sakura-neechan!" she was jerked away by the weight that landed on her back. Sakura sleepily opened her eyes and saw a similar pair of emerald eyes look back at her. Remembering her dream, Sakura almost jerked back until she saw who it was.

It was chibi-Sakura-chan.

Okay, so she couldn't really call her chibi anymore since her 'younger' self was now twelve years old. To avoid confusion, everyone that called the older Sakura, Sakura-chan, called the younger one Saku. It made things easier and stopped all the headaches that had formed.

"Don't you think you're too old to jump on my back?" she asked with a grin as Saku slipped off of her. "You're getting too big. Before you know it, you're going to break my back."

It had been four years since the incident with Haruko. During those years, Sakura felt as if she had lived the best years of her lives. Everything was so peaceful and what was so great was that Itachi hadn't destroyed the Uchiha Clan. The proud symbol of the fan still stood strong within the Uchiha district.

"I'm not fat!" Saku cried. Sakura rolled her eyes. Had she really been like this when she had been younger?

Getting out of bed, she began to trudge down to the kitchen. "Yes, yes, you're so skinny I think you should eat more." The two of them were living in Saku's home. Sakura glanced at the photo hanging on the wall. It was a family portrait. The feeling of awkwardness disappeared whenever she saw four people inside the picture.

Her mother, her father, Saku, and… her.

Sakura hadn't been surprised when a few days later; a letter arrived stating the deaths of her parents. Thanks to Haruko's spell, her lies were gone and everyone truly believed she was the older sister of Saku. She still remembered how Saku refused to leave her room, staying there isolated from others for a week.

No matter what they did, she wouldn't leave. Even Naruto and Sasuke's combined efforts were no good. It wasn't until Mikoto and Sakura managed to coax Saku to come out to the cherry blossoms festival did she finally begin to heal. Since the Hokage presumed Sakura was eligible to watch over Saku, they had agreed to let them live alone only if Mikoto and Fugaku agreed to be their guardians until Sakura was of legal age.

Two more years to go, after all she had been the same age as Itachi when she had arrived into the past.

"Today's the day I meet my Gennin team!" Saku said proudly, her hitai-ate gleaming brilliantly on her head. "I hope I get along with my teammates."

"Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if you did." Sakura said with a knowing grin. Saku's eyes lit up.

"You know who my teammates are, don't you?"

"I don't know." Sakura said, lying through her teeth. Saku, having known Sakura for years (well in her mind), knew she was lying and began to pester her.

"C'mon neechan, tell me!" she whined.

"No," Sakura said placing the steaming rice in front of Saku. "Promise me one thing though Saku-chan."

"Hm?" she asked chewing her food.

"That you'll never give up on your teammates."

* * *

Kane licked the blood off of his kunai. Rei looked a few feet away in disgust. This was the man that he respected and admired? The demon that was licking the blood from the kunai like a kitten who was licking milk off of its claws. As if drunk by the blood, there was a delirious look in Kane's eyes.

They were miles away from Konoha but already word of their presence had been alerted to Konoha. They were probably sending shinobis to attack. Kane smiled, putting his kunai away. It would be nice to see those Konoha brats after all these years.

Four years ago, he had stormed into Konoha and had taken care of a great deal of their shinobis. He even remembered some of them since some of the ones he killed had memories of a certain kunoichi. What were their names? Oh yes, there was that big boned one, Chouji… hm… the weapons girl Tenten who had been protecting the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata. They had been particularly delicious.

Who else was there, of course he couldn't forget that strong spirited bowl haired boy. Rock Lee, he hadn't killed him. Rei had the honors of doing that. Kane smile grew, thanks to the death of Haruko; Rei had decided to get rid of anyone who that kunoichi cared for. No longer was the thought of killing others for no reason bothered Rei as long as it somehow hurt that kunoichi…

That kunoichi named Haruno Sakura.

Kane could still remember the look in the Kyuubi host, Naruto, and the Uchiha. Their expressions had been so hilarious, especially since Naruto had been raving about how Sakura was in the past. That was now kind of hard to believe since her body was found, mutilated, somewhere near Sound.

That was his last debt to Haruko. The fools didn't even realize that it was actually a genjutsu on a rock. The jutsu Haruko had used made it seem as if Sakura was dead but Kane had made it more believable by providing them a body.

"Kane." Rei barked.

He turned around, looking at Rei lazily. "What do you want now?"

"Why did we attack this village? There was no reason to."

"Hm, here I thought you didn't mind mindless slaughter." Rei said inspecting his work. Everything was torn apart; there was no living soul near them.

"I don't if it'll somehow hurt that bitch but these people have no connection what so ever with her." Rei crossed his arms, wrinkling his nose at the scent of death and decay. He had never really been fond of that scent.

Kane kicked over a nearby body. The person was dead. How boring, there was no more live prey. "Yes but if you have already forgotten, that 'bitch' is too caring for her own good. It'll definitely hurt her if we told her about the slaughter of innocent people were due to her actions."

Rei's eyes seemed to lit up at that statement. '_What a fool'_ Kane thought _'you were always too easy to manipulate Rei, even when we were gennin. That will soon be your downfall'_.

He actually had bigger plans in mind. Akatsuki had gotten wind of their presence and had been looking for them. Everything was going according to plan. Kane chuckled, fingering the hilt of his katana. It was midnight red and had a white circle on it, the symbol of the Haruno family.

'_I can't wait until we meet… little Sakura-chan.'_

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: The intro is a bit… well… stupid to me but like I said, this is only the intro. It might as well not be part of the story but it seemed a bit needed. - . -U I just contradicted myself… I think. Grr, im also a bit angry. I think i made Saku-chan sound a little bit like a brat. Oh well, this is just the beginning...**

**Gaaahhh, either way, please review.**


	2. Reunion

**Tsuki-chan: Hm… been a while. I'm going to try and update quickly! I'm thankful to all who have stood by this story so faithfully even though I suck at updating. Sigh, this chapter is for all you readers!!!! ENJOY!**

**I don't own Naruto… sob…**

* * *

Sakura snuggled closer into Itachi's side. She was in a loose slumber where she would be able to wake up quickly if needed but in a deep enough sleep where she could get some rest. Itachi had an arm around her, keeping her close.

The past few years had been bliss for him. Sakura had been so kind and understanding, never really expecting anything from him but depending on him completely. Although most couldn't see it, he could tell that Sakura was very fragile. His grip on her shoulder tightened.

So fragile, he could break her easily if he wanted to. It was so simple and with her trust on him, it was even easier. She wouldn't no what hit her if he decided to kill her in cold blood. His lips grazed her head, placing a ghost-like kiss on her.

-

"_We are the Akatsuki…_"

-

His body tensed up, remembering the voice of the man covered in the shadows. How his chakra seemed to chock Itachi to his knees. There had been other shadows surrounding him. That man had arrived a few months after Sakura was attacked in the forest.

-

"_A great shinobi like us…"_

_-_

Their offer was tempting, he had to admit. But there was Sakura; he couldn't just leave her here. No, he would never leave her by herself. Someone would take her away from him. There was no doubt about it. If that wasn't it, she would get hurt if he wasn't there to protect her.

Sakura jerked awake, feeling a painfully tight grip on her shoulder. She tilted her head to look at Itachi and saw him gazing intensely at nothing in particular. His eyes were in the form of the sharingan, the three blades appeared dangerous underneath her gaze.

"Weak…" he whispered. She had a feeling he forgot that she was there.

She was so damn weak and because of that, he needed to protect her. Sakura was his; she had said she loved him. Itachi suddenly jerked her forward and crushed his mouth against hers. Her gasp gave him entrance and he immediately took his chance, desperately wanting to taste her sweet essence. His fingers were tangled with her pink locks, pulling her closer.

Itachi's other arm was wrapped around her, holding her arms to her side and giving her no chance to push him away. He kissed her mouth as if he owned it. No, she was his. Everything of hers was his. His mouth trailed down her jaw until they found their way to her throat.

Sakura was flushed pink, her heart beat spiking up at the sudden lack of oxygen. Unconsciously, she tilted her neck to give Itachi space and he nipped her neck approvingly.

"So damn weak…"

Her mind had been covered in a haze but his voice broke the strange spell he had placed on her. She began to squirm, trying to find freedom but found none. Itachi's grip on her tightened. He pulled her small frame tightly against his until their upper bodies were meshed up together.

A few years ago, Sakura would have panicked when Itachi did something like this but she found –over the course of time- that he seemed to have these strange attacks where only she could comfort him. Itachi's eyes had a glint that seemed to have a need so great but she didn't understand what it was.

"Itachi…" she whispered. "We should go."

His bangs covered parts of his face, his arms loosening so that she could get up.

-

'_Whatever you desire, join us and it will be yours'_

_-_

She jerked to a stop when his arms rested themselves on her shoulders, his fingers knitted in front of her. "Itachi?"

"…nothing…" he whispered. _'I need nothing but you.'_

* * *

"Are you alright Saku-chan?" Sakura asked at the pink haired girl who practically collapsed on top of Sakura during their form. There wasn't a scratch on her but she appeared exhausted.

Sasuke snorted. "Don't worry about her neesan; she's just being a big baby."

"Don't call my Saku-chan a baby!" Naruto yelled.

"She's not yours!"

"Yes she is!"

"No she isn't!"

"Yes she is!"

"No she isn't! She's not a thing!"

Naruto glowered at him. "Of course she isn't. Saku-chan is so pretty, just like Sakura-neesan! So she deserves the best and who better than the next Hokage?"

"There's no way I'm handing Saku to a dunce like you!"

"Who you calling a dunce?"

"I don't see any except the one in front of me." Sasuke said calmly, his arms crossed and his back against the wall. Kakashi ignored the two, indulging himself without a helping of Icha Icha Paradise.

"I'm tired neechan," Saku mumbled, retailing the details of their missions. It was a jumbled up but Sakura got the idea of what had occurred.

_Saku trembled at the feel of the heavy chakra. It was so powerful and seemed to weigh her down, holding her heart and clenching it tightly. She stared at the glowing figure that was Naruto. To think that all of this chakra was coming from Naruto! Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes, Sasuke's unconscious form on her lap._

"_Wha-What is this?" Tazuna asked in shock._

"_Lay a finger on any of them," Naruto's voice was husky, so unlike the usual light voiced Naruto. "And I'll tear you apart!"_

There was no way Sakura had forgotten about the Kyuubi. Her lips thinned, her eyes straying towards Naruto who was still arguing with Sasuke. She wasn't worried that the Kyuubi would get loose. No, she was more concerned about what would happen in the future. From what was occurring in the new present, she wasn't sure now.

Would Orochimaru still be after Sasuke even though there are plenty of other Uchiha's around? … er… not that she would want to place such a fate on anyone else. No one deserved to have a curse seal branded on them.

Sasuke wouldn't be tempted by such a power. His family was still alive so he had no use for power to avenge them. Doubt still lingered. Whenever she believed they were safe, things ended up worse than before.

"Kakashi-sempai, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun," she called out, catching their attention. "Are you three alright? Do you need me to heal any wounds?"

"Nope, I'm fine!" Naruto cheered.

Sasuke answered with a shake of his head.

Kakashi smiled at her, although it was hidden by the mask Sakura could tell he was smiling because of the way his eye would crinkle up. It had taken her quite some time into getting used to calling Kakashi sempai instead of the usual sensei. Old habits, after all, were very hard to break.

"Alright then, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, can you walk Saku-chan home? I have some business to attend to." The moment she saw their nods, she disappeared into a puff of smoke.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" five voices crowed. She whirled around and was tackled by five bodies. Sakura moaned, feeling her head spin. Who would have thought the moment she landed in front of the tower of the Hokage, she would be attacked by not one but five people?

"We missed you!" a girl with short violet haired whined. It was none other than Uchiha Yumi. She was a Chuunin and is still contemplating on whether to take the Jounin Exams or not. Yumi was currently going out with Uchiha Kano, an Anbu who is also close friends with Sakura.

Next to her were two figures, coughing at the cloud of dirt that had formed around them. Uchiha Kichi and Mika sat there, trying to rub the dirt out of their eyes. Their hairs had grown longer and were kept in a tight plait. Mika's dark blue hair –resembling black- was kept upward by a pair of chopsticks and Kichi's brown black hair was down.

Kichi and Mika are also Chuunin. Kichi had no plans to become a Jounin so far, she's too into her love life right now. Right now, she was the girlfriend of the Jounin shinobi Uchiha Fudo.

Mika was still new to being a Jounin, having only become one not so long ago. She is the younger sibling –by like a year or two- to Fudo and his twin brother Kano. Those two were polar opposites of each other but the two brothers go along fine, becoming a very good offensive tag team fighting pair. They would give any shinobi a run for their money.

Two other forms were still hugging Sakura so tightly she was starting to lose air. The one on the right was Usagi –who still had short black hair-. On the other side was a navy haired girl who went by the name Uchiha Kori. A few years ago when they had first met, Kori had been blind. Now after Sakura's careful medical treatment, she could now see and is currently a Chuunin along with Usagi.

Back in those days, Kori had been very shy. Now that she got her sight back, her confidence grew. "Just because you're in Anbu doesn't mean you can't hang out with us." She said with a pout.

"Shhh," Sakura covered her mouth. "No one is supposed to know who's in Anbu or not! It's supposed to be a secret!"

"BS, everyone knows you and Itachi-kun are the pair to be reckoning with. I heard you guys took care of that tough S-classed mission, just the two of you!"

Sakura shook her head. "No, Itachi did everything! I was only his back up. You might as well say it was a one man mission."

A mischievous grin took over Kichi's face. "Nah, I think it's because Itachi's so protective of you that he didn't want you to fight at all. That's so sweet!" she shook her head when Sakura began protesting. "No, no, I understand what you're going through. Fudo-kun is just like that too. Whenever I get a mission, he starts going crazy and checks if I'll be safe or not."

"Lucky," Yumi grumbled. "Kano-kun is too busy with Anbu missions to do anything for me."

"Says you," Kori grumbled herself. "You guys have boyfriends. I still don't have anyone."

Usagi reached over to Kori –they were still attached to Sakura- and gave her a one armed hug. "It's alright, I know how you feel."

Mika snorted. "That's your own fault. Leiko, aka the bitch of the century, practically dragged him away from you! We told you a thousand times how he felt about you but you just let him go!"

They were talk about Uchiha Raidon. When Sakura first met him, she realized the big guy had a huge crush on Usagi. The only reason he didn't actually react on them was because he was too shy. He was currently going out with Uchiha Leiko –against his will- because his parents believed they were a good match.

They had no idea how wrong they were.

"Can you guys let go," Sakura asked, trying to be calm but failed horribly. "I… can't… breathe!"

"Oh! Sorry!"

"So," Yumi asked casually. "What brings you to here? I thought you'd be on a date with Itachi-kun."

"Hehe…" Sakura laughed awkwardly. "He's gone training with Shisui-san."

Sakura knew who Uchiha Shisui was. He was the man Itachi was supposed to kill to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan. She stiffened at that thought. Sakura had been keeping an eye on Shisui to make sure he didn't disappear somewhere off on his own and get killed by Itachi.

She had ended up being caught by him. Not that it was surprising since he trained with Itachi. To be able to keep up with Itachi's speed, one had to be above efficient in all areas. Sakura had a hard time keeping up with him at times.

Itachi's reaction was still so vivid.

-

"_Why are you following him around?" his voice was soft but she could tell, even with his gentle tone, that he wanted an answer._

"_No apparent reason." She mumbled nervously._

_It was the middle of the night. Shisui had walked Sakura home, Saku was sleeping over at Sasuke's house. Naruto had started throwing a tantrum so the two of them ended up spending the night with him. The two were in Sakura's room and Itachi was getting too close for comfort._

_They kiss, they hug, they do all intimate things people in relationships do but Sakura still couldn't get used to it. He made her feel safe but Itachi still had that feel around him that said he was dangerous. Those made her instincts react against her will. The instinct to run and hide from the predator…_

_Which, right now, was getting stronger with each step Itachi took towards her. She winced when he slammed his fist into the wall, a few inches away from her head. "Tell me Sakura…" his face was against her hair, nuzzling into them._

"_I…"_

_His other hand was trailing up her leg, making her let out a muffled whimper of surprise. "You told me you love me."_

"_I do!"_

"_Then why are you following Shisui-san around? Is there something you're hiding from me?" he demanded. The hand that had been against the wall, fisted on her soft locks and pulled her closer to him. Sakura gasped, feeling Itachi's swift fingers undoing the buttons of her shirt._

"_What are you-."_

_She was cut off by his lips, demanding entrance. Sakura stubbornly refused, clamping her lips shut. Itachi growled at her resistance and nipped her lower lip hard making her squeak. He pushed her hard against the wall, trying to take in everything of her._

_Itachi's hard frame crushed her petite one, the hand that had been toying with her shirt grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her. His mouth was still ravaging hers. He was being so rough on her, dizziness filled her mind as she began to become light headed._

"_Itachi…" she mumbled weakly._

"_You're mine." He breathed against her lips. "You love me, no one else. Tell me!"_

_There were those blazing sharingan eyes again. Sakura wanted to shrink back in fright but her stubbornness kept her still. Looking at him straight in the eyes, she stated firmly. "I love you and only you Itachi…"_

_-  
_

"Are you alright Sakura-chan?" Kori asked tentatively.

"Huh?" Sakura looked around surprised. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine! Let's hurry and get inside."

"I wonder," Kichi said with a thoughtful gaze. "Did you come all this way because you heard about the Chuunin Exams?"

"…maybe." She said cautiously.

"Why bother," Mika asked bored. "You're Anbu; the Chuunin Exams have nothing to do with you."

Yumi smacked her head, making her yelp. "Baka! Sasuke-kun, Naruto, and Saku-chan are Gennin! They might end up taking the Chuunin Exams."

"Ow, but they're rookies." Mika mumbled. "Their sensei would never let them take the exams, not right now at least."

Sakura looked at the bird flying over the sky, displaying their message for all shinobi to see. Her body was tense and ready. If Orochimaru was to strike, she would personally make sure he didn't touch anyone! Not the village, not the Hokage, and definitely not Sasuke.

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: - . -U what a steamy chapter. Things are starting to heat up… in both ways, if you know what I mean! Well review please! If a lot of you review, I might just update faster:3**


	3. The Mission

**Tsuki-chan: Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this fast. It truly has been.**

**This chapter is dedicated to all the readers out there.**

**free2dream: calm down, I'm sorry but I'm really lazy when it comes to updating… er… sorry but I hope you enjoy this chapter - . –U**

**By the way, do you guys want me to write a lemon? I've never written one before but… yeah… I don't think I'll be good at it but some readers seemed to be rooting for one so yeah.**

**I don't own Naruto, ENJOY!**

* * *

"Again!" Sakura yelled. Ten bunshin of Sakura surrounded Saku, each of them holding a handful of shuriken. Saku was blindfolded with her hitai-ate and was weaponless. She had no more chakra left and could only move by instinct.

The shuriken began to fly and Saku dodged them, a few of them nicking her here and there. She tumbled to the side, rolling back to her feet. Sakura frowned. Saku was still too slow and she needed to build up her chakra supply. She wouldn't survive the Chuunin Exams at this rate.

"Again!" she said. Saku barely had time to jump away from the attacks, she hissed in pain when the weapons cut through her flesh. Sakura sighed and cancelled the bunshins, walking over to Saku. "Are you alright?"

"Did you have a bad day or something neechan?" Saku scowled, holding her bleeding side.

"Sorry," Sakura mumbled, healing the torn flesh. The process happened quickly, the tear slowly mending with the help of Sakura's chakra.

"I know you're worried about me going to the Chuunin Exams but don't worry, I'll be fine. After all," she grinned at the older girl, "you taught me everything I know."

Sakura tapped Saku's head. "Baka, that may be true but I still haven't taught you everything **I** know." She helped Saku off the floor, gently pushing the twelve year old to the house. "Now, off you go. Take a shower and sleep early; I don't want to find that Sasuke and Naruto snuck into your room again while I'm gone."

"I told you, neechan! They only did that because it was my birthday. Sheesh, can't you let it go already? That happened when I was ten years old, neechan. Two years ago!" she complained.

"No excuses, I have work to do." Sakura scolded. Saku pouted but began to trudge towards the house.

…

"You can come out now, Neji-kun." Sakura said softly. There was a rustle from the trees and someone jumped down from the trees gracefully. Sakura smiled at the young Hyuuga and he bowed politely at her. "What can I do for you? Saku-chan's gone by the way so you can stop hiding in the shadows."

"Sa-Sakura-san!" he yelled in protest. Despite being in the dark, Sakura could see him blushing.

"Aw, that's so cute." She giggled at Neji who looked away. It was fun, seeing the normally mature Hyuuga act so childishly. "Seriously, Neji-kun, what can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you can somehow dissuade Saku-chan from attending the Chuunin Exams…" he mumbled.

"You know I can't do that." The two began to walk through the pathway that led towards the village.

Neji frowned, looking at Sakura with those piercing silver eyes. She had watched him grown over the years and was impressed. In her own timeline, she remembered how everyone had commented on how powerful Neji was and what a true genius was. Seeing it first hand had been breath taking.

"But Sakura-san…" she saw his concerned gaze. "The Chuunin Exams are very harsh and I don't think… I don't think Saku-chan should take it. She doesn't seem like the type to be a kunoichi."

"Hey," she chided mockingly. "Saku-chan's is like an exact copy of me. Are you saying I don't seem like the type to be a kunoichi as well?"

"It's not… I…" he seemed to be a loss for words. He looked startled when he saw the laughter in Sakura's eyes. "Sakura-san!" he yelled in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." She giggled.

"Neji-kun/My adorable little student, Neji!" they heard a shout from above. Sakura twitched, oh no. Good thing Saku wasn't here or else things would go reeaaallly chaotic. Neji appeared to have the same thoughts.

In the sky!

A bird!

A plane!

No!

"Rock Lee/ Maito Gai, at your service!" they cried in their oh-so beautiful pose. Rock Lee was in his nice guy pose and Gai was doing this eagle pose. Gai saw Sakura standing next to Neji and ran towards her, grasping her hands in his own. He looked up at her with adoration.

"My beautiful cherry blossom, the terrible noble family of Uchiha may have chained you but fear not, for one day I shall catch your gloriously youthful heart and we shall dance into-." He was cut off by a fearsome lust for blood.

Sakura sweat drop, seeing Itachi standing behind Gai.

"Mind repeating yourself, Gai-san?" Itachi asked eerily calm. Gai gulped, taking a step back. An angered Itachi was not someone you wanted to mess with.

Meanwhile, Lee turned to Sakura. "Where is Saku-san? I wanted to spread my love to my dear blossoming flower-."

"She's not your love, Lee." Neji sounded like he was having a hard time controlling himself.

"My eternal rival, Neji-kun!" Lee cried. "We shall fight for Saku-san's love! Meet me at sunrise tomorrow morning and we shall have a duel to the death! The winner will be the one to hold Saku-san in their arms, spewing their undying love to her."

"…that's a very… very… disturbing image." Sakura whispered to Neji who could only rub the bridge of his nose. "Er… Itachi-kun, what are you doing here?"

He turned to her, releasing Gai from his intimidating glare. "Hokage-sama has called for us."

'_Mission?'_ she questioned mentally.

'_Aa_' he answered. Having been around Sasuke for so long in her timeline, she managed to understand what each 'Aa' meant. In this case, the 'Aa' meant yes.

"Sorry Lee-kun, Gai-san, Neji-kun, we need to go." She clapped her hands in front of her, using that as a sign of her apology. "I'm sorry I can't do what you asked, Neji-kun. Don't worry though, I'll make sure she's in tip top shape to take on the Chuunin Exams."

"WHA-WHA-WHAT? MY BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOM IS TAKING ON THE HORRENDOUS CHUUNIN EXAMS? THIS IS OUT OF THE QUESTION! SHE MUST BE-!" Sakura disappeared with Itachi before Lee could continue his rant.

* * *

"What's the mission?" Sakura asked while they were walking through an isolated hallway. Just in case, she double checked the surroundings to see if there were any chakra signals… there was none.

"Sakura, do you know who Orochimaru is?" Itachi asked.

"…he's one of the three legendary Sannins, right?" she tilted her head. "There's Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, and Orochimaru…er…-san?" she questioned. She knew about Orochimaru's bad connection to Konoha and didn't know whether to put him in a higher dialect or not.

"Correct and I'm sure you've heard rumors about a new village that has just been created." She nodded. "Hokage-sama is worried that there might be a connection to this new village and Orochimaru. He wants us to check it out."

"How long?" she asked immediately. The Chuunin Exams was in a week, if this took long… mentally, Sakura narrowed her eyes. She would have to skip the mission, not matter what anyone said.

"Just for five days," he answered smoothly. There was curiosity, though, as to why she immediately wanted to know how long it took. Mikoto always checked up on Saku whenever Sakura had a mission so she didn't need to worry. There were still so many mysteries surrounding his little cherry blossom.

"What are we to do?"

"Nothing extraordinary, just investigate who's running the show and return with whatever information we have. According to Hokage-sama, he's worried about the Chuunin Exams. I don't know why but he seems concerned." Itachi spoke as they stopped before the Hokage's room, ready to enter and accept the mission.

"What's our story?" Sakura asked, staring at the door. The Hokage had good instincts, being so weary of the Chuunin Exams. "Are we going to pretend to be siblings, cousins?"

Itachi grinned, this was his favorite part. Sakura almost took a step back at seeing his excited grin.

"Itachi-kuuun." She said the suffix warningly.

"We are to infiltrate this village as newly weds."

Sakura thought she was going to faint.

* * *

"BUHAHAHAHA!!!" Saku laughed holding her stomach. She didn't know what exactly Sakura was doing in her mission but she knew that Sakura was going to have to pretend to be married to Itachi! It was too funny to pass up. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"It's not that funny." Sakura scowled, packing her things. She was to wear clothes that were highly fashionable in the Lightening Country. During her stay at the new village, she was to try and make it seem as if she has no connection what so ever to Konoha.

Sakura stared at her black hair, she definitely didn't like this. Her hair was black, BLACK! It was a color suited for Itachi, not her! She scowled, brushing her hair. She was fine with wigs but she had to dye it, just as a precaution. Through the corner of her eye, she saw Saku about to burst into another fit of laughter.

"Oh no you don't, while I'm gone you're going to have to follow a few rules." Saku gulped, she never really liked Sakura's rules. "While I'm gone, you are to come home exactly at ten. I even asked Kakashi-sempai to make sure you don't sneak off to who knows where. Mikoto-chan even agreed to come and make sure you don't sneak off in the middle of the night. If you're going somewhere, I want you to have someone with you. Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, Neji-kun, I don't care, just someone."

"What, why? I'm not a little girl neechan; I can take care of myself! You said so yourself, I'm a kunoichi now!" Saku protested.

"An amateurish kunoichi."

"That's not true." Saku scowled.

"I might be disproved in the future but right now, you are an amateur. Heck, even Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun are amateurs. You three still don't have enough experience to be called a full fledged shinobi. Now, will you listen to the rules or am I going to have to force you to stay with Mikoto-chan the whole time I'm gone?" Sakura asked angrily.

"Fine," Saku complied reluctantly.

"Good, now, one thing. I'm going to be gone for five days, a week at the most. There's plenty of money in you-know-where so if you run out of food, you know what to do. If you get scared or think someone's out there, there are plenty of people who'll be willing to stay with you." Sakura said calmly, ignoring Saku's blush.

"I'm not a baby neechan!"

"That's what you think." Sakura retorted.

"What do you mean by that?" Saku demanded.

Sakura remained silent. She could imagine everyone's faces as they described little Saku.

_Mikoto –she's still so kawaii! I think it's too early for her to be a kunoichi! She should wait until she's fifteen! (daughter-complex even though Saku's not her real daughter)_

_Fugaku –Saku-chan's too early to be a kunoichi. She should wait a few more years. (father-complex over the years, Saku have become a daughter to him)_

_Sasuke –she needs to stay home and stop being so annoying. (crush on her)_

_Naruto –Eh? Saku-chan's? She should just stay with me. I, Uzumaki Naruto, swear to protect her with my life! (crush on her)_

_Neji –Saku-chan shouldn't be a kunoichi. She's too delicate. Fate will soon show her that it is her destiny to stray from the path of a kunoichi. (crush on her)_

_Kakashi –If Saku-chan needs someone to watch over her, I'm up for the job. I'll even make sure I'm not lost on the road of life (sees Saku-chan as a sister or daughter)_

_The list goes on and on and on_

"Neechan… Neechan…" Saku took in a deep breath. "NEECHAN!"

"What?" Sakura asked with a jump.

"What were you thinking about?" Saku asked with narrowed eyes. Sakura sweat dropped, seeing the angry glint in Saku's eyes.

"Nothing." She said quickly.

"Don't nothing me, you were thinking about something!" Saku yelled, chasing after Sakura who was running away.

"It was nothing!"

"COME BACK HERE!"

* * *

Dawn touched the sky, coloring it with pink, yellow, and blue. Morning was soon to come. Sakura hoisted the black bag over her shoulder only to feel it taken off of her back. Looking up, she saw Itachi holding the bag for her.

His eyes were still black but his hair had been dyed a light brown shade. She was for a moment, touched by how he took her bag for her, but the compassion evaporated when her eyes landed on his hair. She snorted in laughter and Itachi's eyes flickered in annoyance.

"It's not funny."

Whoa, de-ja-vu. It was exactly like her position with Saku-chan, only this time, she was the teaser and Itachi was the one getting teased. He scowled almost childishly and Sakura couldn't help but giggle. It was so strange, seeing **the** Uchiha Itachi acting like a child.

"Yes it is," she reached up and pinched his cheeks, breaking his carefully placed scowl. "Oooh, Itachi-chan, you're sooooo kawaii. I just want to eat you up." She cooed and laughed even more at the alarm in his eyes.

"Tease." He grumbled.

"I know you are but what am I?" she asked.

Sakura yelped in surprise when he used his free arm to lift her up. His right arm, holding the bags, held them carelessly and his left arm carried her by the waist.

"Right now, you're my wife." He whispered huskily near her ear. "And as your husband, koi, I plan on making sure you know your place."

She blushed; she never noticed how… delicious Itachi smelled. Maybe it was because most of the time when she was near him, he was filling her mind was a heavy haze with his kisses. Not to mention his voice, she squirmed a little but he only held onto her tighter.

"What's that supposed to mean, teishu (husband)?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice that she knew Itachi despised.

"I'm sure you know what husbands and wives do, koi." He nipped her ear affectionately.

"WHAT?" she screamed, making him let out one of his rare laughs.

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: Please review and thank you to all the readers! **


	4. The Mission II

**Tsuki-chan: I don't own Naruto! Enjoy the chapter!  
**

* * *

The stench made Sakura's stomach roll in disgust. It wasn't as bad as she had imagined though. There was no dead bodies rotting in the middle of the street or kids crying in hunger. What made her senses tingle was the feel of the surroundings. It was filled with hostility and fear. 

"Are you alright?" Itachi asked, adjusting his grasp on her shoulder.

Sakura nodded stiffly, leaning towards Itachi for comfort unconsciously. His grip tightened to give her reassurance. All the citizens walking by had their heads bowed, concentrating on the floor.

"This place gives me the chills." She whispered so that only he could hear.

"I know," he began to direct her towards the nearest inn. "Let's go get a room, koishii, and then we can look around."

She stiffened at the word 'koishii' but relaxed when she remembered the reason why they were here in the Sound Village in the first place. When they entered the inn, an old lady sat there stiffly with a man standing behind her. They were softly murmuring to each other about something.

"Excuse me," Itachi said, sounding pleasant. Sakura was kind of envious of how natural he sounded.

"Hello there young man," the old woman said. The woman's face remained hard and on guard. Sakura could only wonder the things she had gone through to maintain such an exterior.

"We would like a room." His grip on Sakura didn't relent. Actually, it tightened even more when the gaze of the man behind the woman landed on Sakura. There was a hidden layer of lust behind the cold violet eyes, lust that Sakura didn't want to let loose anytime soon.

"For how long?"

"What do you think?" he asked Sakura in fake contemplation. She looked upward in shock before remembering her place. She had to pretend to be his wife! "We were going to go to the Earth country for their hot springs, but our reservations there isn't until next week."

"Then how about we stay here for five days?" she asked with a big smile. "That'll give us enough days to look around and start our journey towards the Earth country!"

"Good idea," Itachi leaned down so that he looked at Sakura eye to eye. She froze at the sudden close proximity and couldn't stop the blush as he seemed to nuzzle into her face affectionately, "koishii."

Itachi was so close to her, waaaay closer than from when he was simply just holding her shoulder. She could smell that delicious scent once more, not too sweet or bitter but a charcoal like scent that reminded her of the delicious campfire aroma with the winter air. Sakura no longer squirmed under his grip and relaxed, her face flushed, but relishing at the feel of Itachi being so close.

While Sakura was another spout of her blushing marathon, Itachi gave a lax glare at the man behind the old woman. There was no need for him to give the man a deadly glare because just with the glare he was using, he knew that the man would be able to get the message loud and clear.

This rosette haired woman.

Was.

_**His**_.

The old woman chortled silently at the threat Itachi presented. She handed them a pair of keys, watching them with sharp charcoal eyes. "A newlywed, eh? Strange that a couple just starting their journey in marriage would decide to visit such a dreary place as our village." She murmured.

"That's because," Sakura began with a flustered face. "Well, Obaachan, it's because-."

"The place holds special memories to both of us." He brushed her black hair aside so that he could take a better look at her eyes. "After all, this is the place where we shared our first kiss."

"You two lived around here?" the man asked in a gruff voice. He had seen and understood Itachi's warning, but his gaze still lingered on Sakura. She wasn't the most beautiful woman, but there was just an air around her that caught your attention. Something entrancing, he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"No," Sakura managed, thankfully, to say in a calm voice but the blush still splashed her cheeks. "My husband and I had been on a little vacation trip and had found a beautiful nearby lake and that's where we… well… er…"

"We'll be going to our room now." Itachi grabbed the keys and began to push Sakura towards the room. The moment they were out of the two's sight range, Sakura touched her forehead. It was starting to ache from all the strain.

"My head hurts." Sakura mumbled to herself as Itachi opened the door to their room. It was a decent enough room with a bathroom of its own. Sakura looked around to see if any enemies could enter easily and found a few, they were the windows, the bathroom window, and finally the door itself. The ground and the ceiling would be too risky for anyone to use.

Sakura's headache suddenly doubled when she suddenly realized what was wrong with this picture. There was only ONE bed! She rubbed the side of her head for relief but none came.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked, dropping their things next to the bed. Sakura walked towards him slowly, knowing that they wouldn't be able to relax until they were out of this village. The two would have to pretend to be a newly wed twenty four seven until the mission was over.

"My head hurts." She repeated.

"Come here," he ordered. Sakura complied, trying to seem as less reluctant as possible. She was afraid of what Itachi was going to do. Over the years, she had discovered that he seemed to enjoy making her life miserable. The funny thing was, this little habit of his was always only on her!

He sat down and motioned her before him on the bed. His fingers grazed through her black hair gently, running them through until they were tangled up with her hair. Sakura heard the sounds of the chop sticks holding her hair loosen, allowing her hair to fall towards her shoulder.

She moaned softly at the feel of his fingers massaging her scalp. The pain in her head lessoned quite a bit. His hand strayed down her back and found her obi, tugging on it lightly so that it would loosen.

"Ita-." Before she could slip his name from her lips, Itachi crushed her lips against his. He took advantage of her open mouth and slipped in his tongue, relishing at the feel of her addicting taste. Sakura's hand reached upward and her fingers found themselves lost in the mess of Itachi's brown hair.

With her obi loosened, her kimono loosened enough for him to push aside the annoying collar and indulge himself with her exposed neck. One hand cradled the side of her face, holding her still. The other hand found its way upward, pushing aside the open kimono. Sakura squeaked as his large calloused hand cupped her right breast.

She squirmed. Itachi had loosened the bindings on her chest when he had tugged at her clothes and at the feel of his hands on her bare chest made it hard for Sakura to resist the blush blooming on her face. She knew she couldn't demand him to stop and the way he was toying with her breast made it hard to complain.

"I…Ita…" she couldn't even form his name!

"Yes?" his breath ghosted her sensitive skin. Sakura's back made contact with the bed, her hands held up so that they wouldn't push him away. "You don't know how hard it is to stop."

Itachi couldn't tear his gaze away from her. Her eyes were glazed with lust and need, her plump red lips begging to be taking. Sakura's cheeks were flushed and she was panting for air, making her exposed chest rise up high enough to graze his chest. She whimpered at the feel of her sensitive skin making contact with his rough clothing and Itachi couldn't help but curse the clothing that separate him from her.

He kissed her hard. Sakura's eyes widened at the feel of something hard prodding against her thigh. "They're gone," he whispered.

Sakura was still frozen in her place, even when Itachi got off of her. There was the sound of the bathroom door closing and Sakura knew he was taking a cold shower the moment she heard the water turn on. She still didn't move.

They knew that someone was outside, listening to their every move. Without saying anything, the two had fooled the spy by doing what all newly weds would do. She just didn't expect it to go this far.

Sakura turned to the side and curled up into a ball, holding her legs against her chest. Sure Itachi kissed her like crazy sometimes and there were the occasional wandering hands, but he had never touched her bare skin with his hands before. And by bare skin, she meant the… well, you get the idea.

Her face flushed up once more when she remembered the feel of his scorching hot hands on her person. Sakura rubbed her thighs together, feeling an unknown sensation gather at the section between her legs. She wanted something… no, needed something from Itachi but a part of her whispered that if she got it, she would lose something dear if she made the decision without thinking carefully.

"…my head is hurting again?"

* * *

Saku looked around carefully. When she noticed that the surroundings were clear, she closed her eyes. Good, she didn't feel any chakra. That probably meant she was finally alone. 

She reached for the back door and slowly opened it. There still wasn't anyone there! She was actually going to get out! With a big smile, she began to slowly walk outwards.

"Where do you think you are going?" a low tenured voice asked. She stiffened. She knew that voice. After all, she had heard it for years.

"Fu-Fu-Fugaku-san!" she squeaked. Standing beside him was Sasuke and Mikoto. She smiled at Saku while Sasuke grunted a reply. "Wha-What are you doing here? Er, not that it's bad that you're here! It's just that, I-."

"Sakura-chan said to make sure you don't sneak out of the house past curfew." Mikoto chirped. "So, I thought of a great plan! Teishu, Sasuke, and I will stay here with you until Sakura-chan comes back!"

"Th-That's great!" Saku said trying to sound enthusiastic. She was grateful for the concern Mikoto showed, but she had been planning to see Ino. She also knew that Mikoto had slept over before and so Mikoto knew that Saku had plenty of room for a handful of guests.

"Don't worry about your little meet with your friend. I have already contacted Yamanaka-san about that." Fugaku informed Saku who sighed in defeat.

"Don't forget about us!" Naruto yelled, appearing out from behind the bushes with Kakashi. They both had bags, showing signs that they also wished to stay overnight.

"What are you doing here, dobe?" Sasuke demanded.

"Someone has to protect Sakura-chan from you!" Naruto yelled. "She's mine and there's no way I'm going to let you touch any part of her!"

"Naruto!" Saku screamed angrily. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much! I'm not a complete weakling!"

"Ah! Sakura-chan, that's not what I meant." Naruto protested. "I'm just saying, that someone should make sure that the teme doesn't go crazy and chase after you like an animal!"

"The only animal here is you." Sasuke growled.

"Shut up!"

"I'm sorry Uchiha-san," Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I've tried disciplining the two, but it's much harder than it looks."

"Don't worry about it Kakashi-san," Mikoto said with a little giggle. "I've taken care of the three for years and so I know how hard it can be."

"Teme!"

"Naruto," she said in her usual happy tone. "What have we talked about cursing?"

"Ah!"

"Hah, dobe," Sasuke snickered.

"Sasuke," she said, turning her gaze on her son. "What have we talked about name calling?"

"Er."

"You two…"

"Sakura-chan," she said. Saku stiffened. "Let's go inside and bake some cookies, okay?"

Kakashi sweat dropped at seeing his students acting like docile obedient children's under the order of the great Uchiha Mikoto. He turned towards Fugaku who seemed unaffected by the change. "How does she do that?"

"That's something I've been wondering about for years."

* * *

If Sakura had been told of what she and Itachi would doing in this mission, she would have NEVER believed that it was a mission. I mean, c'mon! Holding hands, laughing gaily, and all that mushy stuff. It was sweet to see Itachi act this way –even though they're not really married- but Sakura couldn't help worry about what they were going to do for the mission. 

"Hiroshi-kun?" she asked, calling Itachi by his pseudo name.

"Yes, koishii?" was it just her or was Itachi continuously calling her by that? They had already established that they would call her Kasumi.

"When are going eat?" she looked up at him, knowing he would understand her mental question. _'When the hell are we going to start this mission?_' she thought angrily. "It's been two hours!" she whined. _'It's been two friggin days!'_

"You shouldn't spoil your appetite, koishii. We already ate lunch so wait until it's time for dinner." He said patiently. _'Be patient Sakura, we'll start this mission when it is dark.'_

* * *

Okay, so their time here so far hadn't been a complete waste of time. The two had managed to gather some information by discreetly asking the citizens some questions that would seem random to others, but a gold mine of information to a trained Anbu shinobi. They had discovered several things during the past few days. 

The two had wondered why they hadn't seen any Sound shinobis during the time and had found out that they were all being trained in that fortress looking area in the center of the village. Sakura frowned. Orochimaru was so focused on training the shinobis that he forgot his duty as a kage, to protect the village.

Another thing they had discovered was that Orochimaru sent his men to gather children, who are only about five to six years old, to start their training as a shinobi. They didn't seem to have any choice about it. Sakura remembered, very bitterly, a woman screaming and crying in tears as she tried to stop the men from taking her son. What gripped her heart the most was that no one came to help her.

Now, the final thing they discovered. Itachi sweat dropped when he saw Sakura half pouting and half fuming with anger. Sakura had noticed, without even asking anyone, that Orochimaru didn't seem to accept kunoichis. Nope! He only seemed to be focused on the men! WHAT ABOUT THE FRIGGIN GIRLS!

She calmed herself down by telling herself that the only reason Orochimaru wasn't training girls to be kunoichis was because of his horrible memories of Tsunade beating the crap out of him. He probably knew that the girls would want to be more independent and wouldn't take it lying down if a man tried to control them. Yes, that was probably the reason why.

"Kasumi-chan," Itachi asked, finally calling her by her pseudo name. "Are you alright?"

"Ah, Hiroshi-kun," she squealed hugging him while letting out a hysterically laugh, "I've never felt better!"

The plan they had formed was to simply sneak in. During their two-day little tourist shopping, they had managed to see the scouting patterns of the Sound-nin guards. They alternated every three hours and during the night, there were more guards than during the day.

Fortunately, they were only about Jounin and Chuunin level shinobis. It was a piece of cake to sneak in. Now, the only problem was getting what they wanted and getting out a live.

What was it that they wanted?

To see if Orochimaru was involved with this village.

Okay, Sakura already knew that Orochimaru was involved with this village. Hell, she knew that he was the kage of this village! The problem was, she just couldn't come up to the Hokage and tell him all that. It was unfortunate, but she found that the Hokage was one of the people who lost their memories… meaning; he doesn't remember that she wasn't originally from this timeline.

The two hadn't brought their Anbu clothing, because it would have been bad if the maids had discovered the armor and uniform while they were out of the inn. That included the mask, meaning they would be exposed to identification if they were captured. Just in case, Itachi and Sakura had brought some black clothing as well as a face mask to cover their faces.

They ran through the shadows with the silent footsteps they had practiced for years. Sakura no longer needed to remind herself to walk silently. It had become a habit and was unneeded.

Itachi raised a hand, stopping her. They could hear voices from behind the big copper door. She knew Orochimaru was behind it because of its design. It was of twin snakes, entwined together to form a door knob. Who else wanted tacky door knobs besides Orochimaru?

"The plan is about to commence, Kabuto." She stiffened.

'_Holy shit, it's actually Kabuto!'_ she screamed mentally, making sure not to make eye contact with Itachi. He would notice her panic and interrogate her later for that.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." He murmured _like the obedient slave he was_ (this is what Sakura thinks!) "You were brilliant in deciding to build a village of your own. The next phase of your plan to destroy Konoha will soon begin during the Chuunin Exams."

'_This conversation is making me nauseas_' Sakura thought wearily. '_Oh Orochimaru-sama, please let me kiss your feet, let me lick your toes clean! Ew… I need to stop thinking about things like this.'_

"Don't tell me information I already know, Kabuto." Orochimaru had his back towards them and Kabuto was encased in the shadows too much for their eyes to see. Not that it mattered, Sakura would recognize Kabuto's face anywhere. "Just a few more days…"

"Yes."

Itachi gave a signal that it was time for them to leave. She nodded, turning to leave. Before she left, her eyes met with Kabuto's eyes. She stiffened and saw the amusement glowing in them, before she finally got the nerve to move away.

It was several hours later that Sakura remembered, grimly, that she had forgotten to wear the contacts that made her emerald eyes blue.

* * *

"Saku-chan," Mikoto squealed hugging the poor girl. Somehow, Mikoto had coaxed Saku into getting dressed up in a sun dress. It was snow white and had light green lace on it. "You're soo kawaii!" 

"Ah," she sweat dropped and bowed. "Thank you, Mikoto-san."

Mikoto desperately wanted for Saku to call her Okaasan, if only once, but knew that would be too much. Instead, she opt to drag Saku into a beauty parlor to get her hair done.

Mean while, the opposite sex could only watch them helplessly. Fugaku wondered how he was here in the first place, when he should be at work. Sasuke and Naruto didn't know whether to run around in boredome or to be joyful that they got to see Sakura in a lot of cute and, sometimes, revealing clothing. Kakashi didn't seem bothered by anything at all!

"Hey, teme." Naruto whispered softly.

"What is it, dobe?" Mikoto was looking so they could say what they wanted.

"You want to go back to Saku-chan's house?"

"Why?"

"I'm bored and they have a big backyard. We can train!"

"…that's actually not a bad idea, coming from you."

"I k-HEY!"

* * *

Sakura felt an eye twitch. She had finally got back home from that ridiculous mission –ridiculous to her since she already knew about Orochimaru's position in the Sound village– and she came back to find her home like THIS! 

Itachi sighed at the scene. He knew something like this was going to happen while they were gone.

Saku was crying in Sakura's arms dramatically. She was so happy that her sister was back that she was in tears.

Right before them, their house was gone.

It was completely gone!

How that happen, Sakura couldn't even imagine!

"What the hell happen?" she screamed.

"Naruto and Sasuke destroyed the house while they were training!" Saku cried out. "I was staying at the Uchiha compound while you were gone."

'_Why do I have a feeling that Mikoto-chan planned this?'_ Sakura thought. She knew that the Uchiha matriarch could be very devious when she wanted to be. But, would Mikoto seriously destroy their house just to get them to stay with her?

Sakura looked up at Itachi who sighed.

"Of course she will." He said, apparently reading her mind.

"Pack your bags, Saku-chan," Sakura said in defeat. "We're staying with the Uchiha's… again."

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: Please review! Thank you for reading! n . n**

**PS, PLEASE READ THIS PART!: I'm not accusing anyone of anything, i just want to be sure. someone told me and i've also noticed that the writer rachel9493 time-traveling fic 'Loving the Past' sounds suspiciously like mine with a few alterations, i was wondering if others could read and see if there really are similarites. I just want to know if it does because everyones opinion is different.**

**Thank you!**


	5. MARRY ME!

**Tsuki-chan: Yes, another update! n . n**

**I'm glad there are still fans to this story. TT . TT I think all the readers of 'Past Experience' gave up on me and aren't reading it anymore. I'm really sorry to those that did!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'm also thinking about updating 'Present Occurrences' next. Who knows? n . n**

**Thank you to everyone who tried to help me with this whole 'did the writer copy or not' thing. I'm not accusing anyone of anything.**

**i.death-chan: don't worry, you can write a story about time travel if you want. Anyone can write about time travel if they want. It's just that i heard that the fic sounded a little TOO much like mine, so i got a little worried.**

**Once again, thank you to all the readers out there. I really appreciate it!**

**THIS CHAPTER IS TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO CARE! WAH, I FEEL SO LOVED!**

**I don't own Naruto!**

* * *

"I'm so glad you decided to join us once again, Sakura-chan, Saku-chan!" Mikoto said with a bright smile, sitting before everyone with Fugaku. Itachi sweat dropped at his mother's actions. Sakura smiled at Mikoto and Fugaku, giving thanks for allowing her and her sister to stay within their home once more.

"It's no problem, no problem at all!" the Uchiha matriarch said.

"C'mon Sakura, I'll show you to your room." Sasuke said motioning at Saku to follow him.

"Ah, okay! I'll see you later, neechan, niichan! Thank you for your hospitality, Uchiha-san." She said with a bow.

"My, my, Saku-chan only seems to be getting cuter by the second." Mikoto said with a gleam in her eye that made Sakura nervous. The last time Mikoto had that look in her eye, Itachi and Sakura had been tricked into competing in a tango contest during Valentine's Day where the winners would be crowned the couple of the year.

Oh the humiliation of it all.

"I hear you and Itachi had another mission together. I presume it went well?" Fugaku questioned. Sakura couldn't stop the blush that bloomed nor could Itachi stop his smirk. Mikoto looked at the two inquisitively before jumping to conclusion.

"T-T-Teishu, what do you think about a spring wedding?" Sakura nearly lost her footing as she sat down and if it wasn't for Itachi, she would have probably fallen on her face. "It would be perfect! Especially with Sakura-chan's hair, it would match perfectly with the cherry blossoms if they were to wed in the Uchiha's private garden!"

"Mi-Mi-Mikoto-chan!" Sakura said helplessly.

"Is it that horrible to get married to me, Sa-ku-ra-_chan_?" Itachi purred into her ear. She froze, feeling a tremor zip straight through her spine. His hand was on her waist with his thumb rubbing soothing circles on her hipbone.

Ever since they decided to make their relationship public, Mikoto had been trying to _gently_ push them towards the next level. Itachi seemed to enjoy making Sakura uncomfortable as she was always stuck with the assault of questions. She elbowed his stomach, making him release his grip on her.

"Y-You're getting to ahead of yourself Mikoto-chan!" Sakura said desperately, waving her arms around. It was hopeless. The female Uchiha was already in her own fantasy, filled with small chibis that had black hair and emerald green eyes. "We're too young to be married!"

"Actually, koishii, we're legal by the law this year." Itachi said.

Sakura gave him a glare that said he wasn't helping. He only smiled at her charmingly. Ooh, she could just kiss-kill him! Fugaku could only watch helplessly along side Sakura. Ever since that year where Sakura asked Itachi if they could get married when they were older, Itachi had been constantly teasing her about getting married already.

"Wah, Neechan is getting married to Niichan?" Saku said with wide eyes. Sakura jumped at suddenly seeing Sakura and Sasuke appearing from behind a nearby door. "When is the wedding?"

Sasuke looked at Itachi with wide eyes. "You're getting married to Sakura-neesan?"

"No!" Sakura screamed.

"Yes." Itachi said calmly.

"Itachi!" she yelled, turning to him with her fist shaking threateningly. He merely sipped the tea Mikoto had served them a while ago. She wanted to throw that tea cup aside and ravish-rip his mouth off.

"Yes, koishii?" that voice, THAT VOICE! It should be humanly impossible for a man to have such a sexy voice. What's worse was that he wasn't even trying to sound that good!

"Shut. Up!" she hissed.

"Why, don't you recall that beautiful day those many years ago where you-."

"Don't!" she yelled.

"What, what?" Mikoto and Saku ushered. Sasuke sat beside his father, watching the show half in exasperation and the other half in expectation. They were all waiting for Itachi's next choice of words.

"-asked if we could get married when we're older."

'_Oh crap,'_ Sakura thought.

"Neechan," Saku said in a low voice, sounding a bit menacing. "You said that to Itachi… and you didn't tell me?! How could you not tell that to your beloved imouto, the one who is your only sister in the whole wide world?"

"No, I… Itachi, fix this!" she yelled.

"WEDDING!" Mikoto said happily. "We're going to have a wedding as soon as Itachi turns eighteen!"

"Ne?" Saku tilted her head. "Oh yeah, I just realized. Itachi-nii is younger than Sakura-neechan!"

Itachi nearly spat out the tea he was sipping. He began to cough while an evil smirk began to make its way towards Sakura's lips. She turned to Itachi who looked up at her nervously. He didn't like that look in her eye. "That's right little one; you should listen to your elders and be silent!"

"Yes, Sakura-obaachan." He said instantly regaining his composure.

Mikoto and Saku froze. That was the most cruelest thing a person could do to a woman. Sasuke and Fugaku were considering moving out of the room. The tension was so strong; you could cut through it with a dull kunai. "What," Sakura said in a slow threatening voice, "did you say?"

"Obaachan, you should be grateful that someone such as myself is considering someone like you." He teased. Saku almost smacked her head. He was going too far! Neechan was going to kill him now!

Almost all the occupants in the room gulped and took a frightened step back when Sakura pulled out the kunai from her hoister. "Itachi-kun," she cooed lovingly. Itachi slowly got up, getting read to make a break for the door.

"I'll see you later everyone." He said politely before running mad for the door.

"GET BACK HERE YOU DAMN UCHIHA!" Sakura screamed.

"Sakura-neechan, don't kill Itachi-niichan! Just bonk him on the head for calling you that!" Saku yelled out at the open door. The two were already gone to hear Saku's words. They could only pray that Sakura didn't kill Itachi.

"Sakura."

"Yes Sasuke-kun?"

"We need to go, Kakashi and that dobe are probably waiting for us." he said tugging her arm. "We're leaving, Okaasan, Otousan."

"Alright then, be safe!" Mikoto said. She chuckled when she heard Saku scolding Sasuke for being so rude by not calling Kakashi sensei. The woman turned to her silent husband and shook her head. "Those kids."

"Hn."

"Before you know it, Sasuke and Saku-chan will be the ones arguing so adorably!"

"Hn."

"Then they'll have a lot of charming children."

"Hn?"

"Then we'll be grandparents."

"Hn!"

"And have a lot of grandchildren to spoil!"

"Mikoto." He said warningly, saying that she should stop while she was ahead. Fugaku was one who lived by the shinobi nature, meaning he always thought of the future. However, some things, he didn't want to think about right now. Especially, if it concerned uncontrollable kids… he knew they were going to be uncontrollable, especially if the mother's were Sakura and Saku.

"But I'm glad that Sasuke found Sakura-chan that day." Mikoto said wrapping her arms around Fugaku. "If he hadn't, Itachi wouldn't smile as much as he did today."

"Yes," he touched the hand on his shoulder. "We were very fortunate that Sakura-san came into our lives."

* * *

"Chuunin exams are so soon, I can almost taste it!" a twelve year old boy with amethyst eyes whispered excitedly. Beside him was a sullen figure, the person's form revealed to all watching that the person was a girl. On the other side of the boy was another male his age.

"Calm down, there's still one more day left." He said with a chuckle. He draped an arm on the silent girl, pulling her close. "You shouldn't get our little kunoichi here excited… she might accidentally harm the surroundings."

The amethyst eyes boy nodded. "I understand… ano, are you sure about this thought?"

"Hm?"

"Working with that man wasn't such a good idea in my opinion. Who knows what will happen." The amethyst eyed boy said, looking down at his fists. The girl reached out and touched his hand gently. He looked up at her and smiled. "I know, I know, we shouldn't get worried about nothing."

"This is all for Sakura-chan, after all." The other boy added.

* * *

Sakura flinched at the feel of the sudden cold chill that shot through her spine without any warning. Itachi looked at her concerned, grabbing her before she lost her balance on the rooftop.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she whispered not looking at his eyes. Sakura looked at the Hokage tower with dim eyes. When that chilling feeling had appeared, memories of Haruko had always erupted. She could remember the incident so clearly, how Haruno had died in her arms.

When she had Saku had moved back to the Haruno household, Sakura had dug around the whole place for any clues to her mysterious heritage. To her disappointment, she had found nothing. Then, she hadn't really expected anything to be out in the open.

That would have been just too easy.

"Are you worried about the Chuunin Exams?" he asked her. Sakura almost jumped out of her skin. She had forgotten for a moment that she wasn't alone. She shook her head at the question, realizing he was still waiting for an answer.

"No, I'm sure Saku-chan, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto-kun will do fine." She knew he didn't believe her.

"Your voice lies." His eyes turned to hers, but she couldn't meet them. Instead, Sakura escaped by turning her eyes on the Hokage tower once more. Inside, the majority of the Jounin of Konoha was having a meeting in there with Konoha. The Jounins in there were the ones who had student.

"What do you think will happen in the Chuunin Exams?" Sakura couldn't help but ask. Originally, Akatsuki would have been on the move as soon as the Chuunin Exams were over. Since he wasn't part of the organization, she wondered what was in store for the future.

"It will be like any other exam." He said bluntly, but was lying through his teeth. Itachi knew that Akatsuki was going to make a move to get the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi as soon as the Chuunin Exams were over. He knew Sakura would do everything in her power to protect the little blonde shinobi but…

There was a strange appeal in Akatsuki that gravitated Itachi towards them. He didn't quite understand their methods, but he knew that there was something there that was worth his time. Truth be told, Itachi was getting tired of being in Konoha. Everything was repetitious, but there was one thing that made him stay here in this village and that was Sakura.

She was full of uncontrollable emotions. She would cry if she wanted, angry when pissed off, and embarrassed at the littlest things. Around her, things were never boring. Every moment was precious and important.

Itachi knew very well that Sakura was no weakling. She had proved her worth many times during the years that they had been together. Anbu missions weren't the most prettiest things to do, yet she did all them and still had a smile on her face. She cried for the ones she killed and no matter how bad things were, she still strove on but there was a certain weakness around her that made him protective of her.

He hesitated. The offer Akatsuki had made was so tempting, but what about Sakura? Could he actually allow her to stay in Konoha while he became a missing-nin with Akatsuki? If he were to leave, she would be away from him… she would be allow to go on dangerous missions where she could be killed without his protection… she would be free to spend many hours with her friends… she would be free to see other _men_.

Sakura looked at Itachi, feeling his hand grasp hers. "Are you okay Itachi?"

He didn't answer. The mental debate that was conspiring was always the same.

Sakura was strong, but not enough for him to leave her.

If he left her, she would be chased after other men that wish to claim her.

The offer to join Akatsuki…

They awaited Itachi's answer and he was expected to answer after the Chuunin Exams.

Both of their attentions turned towards the Hokage tower as their sensitive ears caught the words of their wise Kage.

"The Chuunin Exams will commence."

'_After the Chuunin Exams'_ Itachi thought.

'_We'll see what happens'_ Sakura finished, the two unaware that they had the same thoughts in mind.

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: Oooh, things are heating up!**

**Leave a review please!**


	6. Sand

**Tsuki-chan: Oohhh, I feel like shit. Well, I managed to update a month later! Thank you to everyone who read this fic and reviewed. MUAH, I LOVE REVIEWS!**

**I DON'T OWN NARUTO!**

* * *

"How long has it been since I last stepped onto the ground of Konoha?" a amber eyed woman mused, watching the village from on top of the village walls.

"Did you miss it?" another woman with short black hair asked, standing beside the first speaker with her hands full with the luggage. The amber eye lady chuckled, crossing her arms. A wind blew by and her blonde hair was swept to the side along with it.

"Shizune, I missed it as far as I can throw it." She answered.

"Well knowing your strength, Tsunade-sama, that must be pretty far." Shizune answered with a grin. Beside her, Tonton seemed to nod, agreeing with the words spoken by her.

"Oh shush, c'mon, we should hurry and greet the old man already." Tsunade said crouching down to jump off the wall. "Might as well since we're in the area."

"Tsunade-sama, you never told me why you wanted to come back to Konoha all of a sudden." Shizune asked as the two jumped off the wall. Tonton sat safely on one of the bags Shizune was carrying.

"Hm? I didn't?" Tsunade said. "It's because I'm here to meet a certain someone that I've heard rumors about."

* * *

"A-A-Achoo!" Sakura sneezed loudly. She sniffed, rubbing her nose. "Someone must be talking about me."

"Why are you looking at me?" Saku asked defensively when she felt her older sister's eyes watching her carefully. "I don't spread gossip around!"

"You don't, but Ino-chan does. Have you told anything to her lately," Sakura asked in a low tone, "particularly things involving me and Itachi?"

"Uh… not really." Saku took a step back, not really liking the look in Sakura's eyes. They told her of unimaginable pain if she wasn't speaking the truth.

"Hm, I'll believing you," Saku sighed in relief, "for now that is."

"Whatever neechan, I really didn't tell Ino-chan anything. The pig's too busy eyeing Sasuke like a piece of meat." Saku said, sounding a bit miffed. "We haven't been able to talk a lot these past few days."

"I wonder," Sakura said in a sing-song voice. "Are you annoyed because Ino-chan is too busy staring at Sasuke-kun to talk to you, or is it because Ino-chan is eyeing Sasuke-kun?"

N-Neechan!" Saku yelled in embarrassment, her face bursting into flames at the implication of it all. "I don't like Sasuke-kun like that! We're just friends, FRIENDS I say!"

"Suure, that's what they all say before they get together." Sakura teased.

"Neechan, I'm-."

"Ah, we're here." Sakura said as the familiar bridge came into view. Naruto and Sasuke were already there, glaring at each other with such fierce intensity that Sakura swore that she saw electricity sparking between their eyes. "Uh…."

"Don't worry, they're always like that." Saku grumbled.

To Sakura's surprise, she saw Itachi watching the two with his eyes glimmering in amusement. He seemed to take no trouble into trying to stop them, but seemed to be enjoying the small entertainment.

"Sakura." Itachi said, the moment he sensed her presence nearby.

"Hey Itachi-kun." She said with a small wave.

"Saku-chan!" Naruto yelled joyously, running towards her in mach speed. Unfortunately, Sasuke stuck out his foot and Naruto ended up rolling towards Saku's feet.

"Naruto!" Saku yelled.

"T-TEME!" Naruto yelled, whirling around and pointing an accusing finger towards Sasuke's direction. "How dare you trip the future Hokage like that?"

"You tripped over your own feet," Sasuke replied. "Clumsy idiot, how do you expect to become Hokage if you don't have any balance?"

"Shut up, I'll become Hokage and when I do, I'm going to make sure that you stay a Gennin forever! We'll see how big you are when that day comes!" Saku winced at how loud Naruto was yelling.

Sasuke glared at him. "If that day comes!"

"Now, now, you two, let's get along." Sakura said, trying to placate the two.

"He started it!" the two yelled, pointing at each other.

"Did not!" they yelled again.

"We'll just leave this to you Saku-chan," Itachi said stepping away from the growling pair. They were starting to resemble of cats and dogs, ready to go at it in any second.

"Yeah, good luck." Sakura said, following Itachi's lead.

"Wait, Neechan, don't-."

POOF!

"-leave me here with these idiots." Saku mumbled the rest.

"Gaahhh, someday I'm going to kick your ass so hard that your grandchildren will be able to feel it!" Naruto yelled.

"Fat chance of that ever happening!" Sasuke yelled back. The two grabbed each other's collars, tugging at them violently.

"You know," Saku said observing the two. "If you look at it from here, it looks as if you two are trying to rip each other's clothes off and since your faces are so close together, it looks like you're trying to make out with each other."

…

"WHAT?" the two practically screamed. Sasuke pushed Naruto away, stumbling backwards to get away from him.

"Stay away from me, dobe!" Sasuke hissed.

"Likewise, teme!" Naruto yelled while running towards Saku. He grabbed her hands, looking at her with big watery blue eyes. "Saku-chan, how can you say such a thing about me, your future-husband?"

"WHO'S FUTURE HUSBAND?" she yelled, punching his head angrily.

"Ah, itaiiii!" he yelled, nursing the bump on his head.

Sasuke twitched; wanting to give into the urge to present Naruto with a bump of his own but refrained himself. _'That dobe,'_ he thought angrily. _'Why does he always have to go and say stupid things like that?'_

"Yo," a monotonous voice called out from above them. Their eyes looked upward and saw Kakashi crouched down on a nearby gate with one hand raised, on the other hand was his usual favorite orange colored book. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost in the road of life."

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura yelled.

* * *

Sakura sighed. "I'm glad we got away from all that. Sometimes Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun's fighting drive me up the wall. One minute, a person would think they're best friends, and the next, you'd think that they're mortal enemies. I wish they'd just pick a side and stick with it."

"Well, they're boys and will always be boys." Itachi said with a shrug. "They can't help but be competitive."

"What," Sakura said giving him a sly glance. "Are you saying that you're not a boy anymore?"

"Sakura," he said patiently before pinning her with a heated stare. She flushed at his gaze, remembering their mission at the Sound Village. "I'm a man, not a boy."

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the images that suddenly appeared in her mind. "And you never let me forget it," she grumbled, seeing Itachi chuckle at her small antics. Her eyes softened at the sight. It never ceased to amaze her how this timeline was so different compared to her own.

'_But,'_ she thought glumly, '_how much did it change is the key question.'_

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Itachi's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She mentally shook her head to clear her thoughts and gave Itachi a smile.

"Of course, I'm fine. Let's go already; Kakashi-senpai probably informed the three about the Chuunin Exams by now. We should go congratulate them." She said, walking back towards the bridge.

Itachi grabbed Sakura's hand to stop her from moving any further. "Koishii, we're supposed to go see Hokage-sama right now."

"Er… right," she said turning around. "I forgot, silly me."

She tightened her grasp on his hand and began to tug him towards the Hokage's office. He stared at her bag silently. _'Sakura's been acting strange lately. She always seem to be lost in her thoughts… does she know about me meeting the Akatsuki members? No, that's impossible, she was at home during that time, but with her level of skill it would have been easy to hide her presence.'_

He absentmindedly nodded at whatever Sakura was talking about. Itachi unconsciously clenched his other hand into a fist tightly. _'It wouldn't matter, even if Sakura knows of Akatsuki, whatever decision I make, she can't change it.'_

"Itachi-kun." Sakura suddenly murmured. Her voice dropped to a low whisper.

His eyes flickered. "Aa."

Their surroundings seemed to still as leaves began to swirl around them in a perilous dance. The air was tinged with chakra, but there was no bloodlust. Still, the two didn't dare drop their guards.

A shadow appeared before them and the two jumped to the side, just as the figure landed on the ground. Sakura's eyes widened when the ground literally exploded, creating a crater where they once were. Clumsily, she landed on one side while Itachi landed on the other.

"You…" she whispered.

Needles began to fly towards them in high speed. Sakura's body began to move instinctively as her mind was still trying to digest what she had just seen. Her hand grabbed a kunai from her hoister and blocked the barrage of senbon that had been sent her way.

Itachi had done the same and his sharingan was now activated, watching and observing the enemy before them.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked in a breathless tone.

* * *

"I can't believe we were nominated for the Chuunin Exams!" Naruto yelled excitedly. Kakashi was no where to be seen, having escaped when Naruto looked as if he was going to hug him. "Can you two?"

"No, for the hundredth time, I can't believe we're taking the Chuunin Exams." Saku said, sounded a little exasperated. Sure, it had been fun the first few times Naruto asked, but not it was getting downright annoying. How many times did it until it was finally processed into his brain?

"Only a dobe will get excited about something as insignificant as this." Sasuke grunted. Naruto twitched, feeling a vein throb, before whirling and pointing a finger at Sasuke again.

"That's because you don't care about anything, teme! Hah, I bet that you're afraid that I'll show you up in the exam and Saku-chan will love me, kiss me, and-."

"I'M GOING TO DO WHAT?" she smacked him on the head again. "Why the hell will I kiss you?"

"Because you love me, Saku-chan." Naruto said with tear filled eyes.

"…I'm leaving." Saku grumbled, turning towards the direction that led to her house.

"Aw, c'mon Saku-chan, let's go celebrate at Ichiraku. "Leave teme to sulk on his own. Just because he doesn't care about the Chuunin Exams, doesn't mean he has to drag us down with him."

"If you haven't forgotten," Sasuke interjected. His voice was laced with annoyance. "There are also the Jounin and Anbu exams, this isn't as important as those other two."

Saku frowned. "But you can't take them if you aren't a Chuunin so you should also consider this exam important as well."

"HAH, in you face teme! Saku-chan is siding with me!" Naruto yelled, placing a hand around Sakura's shoulder. She smacked it off, yelling at how he should respect her personal space.

"This is stupid." Sasuke grumbled. He was about to turn and walk home when he saw a box nearby them with two circular holes. "What the-… hey dobe, your little cheerleaders are here."

"Huh, what?" Naruto turned and saw the box as well. He looked at it curiously before walking past it; the box turned and followed him. He turned towards the other direction and the box followed him again.

"Naruto," Saku said sounding exasperated as he continued to pace back and forth. "Stop playing around."

"I'm not playing around!" Naruto yelled glaring at the box as if it had done something wrong. "They're the ones playing around, thinking that they could fool an elite shinobi such as myself!"

"As expected from my arch rival," a muffled voice came from the box.

"Should have known that that's the only rival Naruto can get." Sasuke grumbled, just as the box glowed and exploded before them, covering up Naruto's indignant cry at Sasuke.

"Konohamaru Squad is here to take you down!" Konohamaru yelled with his friends Moegi and Udon by his side. Konohamaru pulled out a kunai and charged at Naruto. "Prepare yourself!"

Naruto yelped before dodging to the side. "Hey, those things are dangerous! You shouldn't wave them around as if they're a toy!"

"Don't underestimate me just because I'm younger that you!" Konohamaru said, waving the kunai around.

"Ah, Saku-san, is it true that you're Sakura-sama's younger sister?" Moegi asked with sparkling eyes.

"Uh… yeah."

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Saku-san is soooo lucky that you get to live with Sakura-sama. She's so cool and so strong and so pretty and so nice and so… so… so great! I want to be just like her when I grow older!" she squealed while Sakura sweat dropped.

"And Sasuke-san must be Itachi-sama's younger brother." Udon said, wiping his nose with the end of his sleeve.

"…don't start with me." Sasuke all but growled. Saku pushed Sasuke aside and smiled at Udon.

"Don't mind him, he's just being grouchy today… er… hey Sasuke-kun, where did Naruto and Konohamaru go?" she said, pointing at where the two had previously been.

"How should I know," Sasuke grumbled. "I'm not his keeper."

"Yup," Saku said noticing how Sasuke was growling at everything. "He's definitely moodier than usual today."

"AAHHHHHHH!" the scream sounded too familiar to Konohamaru's voice. Saku immediately ran after the source with Moegi and Udon trailing behind her. Sasuke watched the two of them disappear with a nonchalant gaze.

* * *

"That's a rude thing to say to your senior, kunoichi." A strict feminine voice snapped, almost angrily. Sakura flinched instinctively. Even though this was another timeline, her body seemed to react at the mere sound of this persons' voice.

"Ts-Tsunade-sama, please calm down." Another female voice pleaded the blonde haired lady who stood in the middle of the crater. Shizune jumped down from the trees, landing besides Tsunade. "Hokage-sama isn't going to be happy about what you did here."

"Aw, screw the old man! This girl is the reason why I came back to Konoha in the first place!" Tsunade said stiffly, never taking her eyes off of Sakura. Itachi suddenly appeared behind Sakura, his sharingan activated.

Sakura felt Itachi's presence behind her, but focused all her attention on Tsunade. The blonde haired lady's gaze turned to Itachi's for a split second before turning to Sakura. She could tell that the boy behind her was an Uchiha and from the way he was standing behind her, any damage on the pink haired kunoichi was going to result in pain.

"Ah, I'm sorry for our rude behavior." Shizune said, bowing lowly at Sakura and Itachi. "I guess I threw the senbon on instinct when I saw Tsunade-sama going on offensive mode."

"Tsunade… -sama?" Itachi echoed quietly. "One of the three legendary Sannins?"

"Who are you?"

"Uchiha Itachi." He said smoothly, unruffled that Tsunade wasn't even looking at him. Still the way Tsunade was looking at Sakura irked him.

"Ah, I've heard of you." Shizune exclaimed. "You're the heir to the Uchiha Clan and the boy who is said to be the prodigy of the prodigies! Gah, Tsunade-sama, I didn't know you wanted to meet someone like him!"

"What? No! I was looking for the girl, the girl!" Tsunade yelled.

"Oh, but why?" Shizune asked, turning her eyes to observe Sakura who stiffened. It was strange, having to reconstruct relationships with people she knew so well. Sasuke, Naruto, and the most of them were young so it was kind of like learning more about them, but she was meeting Tsunade and Shizune at the age she had met them in her original timeline!

Sakura almost reached up and touched her head.

It was starting to pound like crazy.

This was just too confusing.

"You!"

"Ah, yes sh-!" Sakura stopped just before she spouted the word _shishou_. Her heart started to thump in a loud manner that she swore Itachi could hear it. "Shopping, Itachi-kun, I need to go shopping!"

"What?" Itachi blinked.

"How dare you ignore your superior!" Tsunade yelled

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Sakura yelled, bowing. Even in this timeline, Tsunade was frightening when she was angry. "I er… got distracted because I… uh… remembered that M-Mikoto-chan wanted me to g-go shopping for her s-s-so that she could cook dinner tonight! R-Right, Itachi-kun?"

He stared at her emerald eyes, imploring him to go along with whatever she was up to. If Itachi wasn't so quick witted, he would have stared her dumbly. But, he was quick witted so…

"Yes, that's right. Okaasan wanted some fresh vegetables for dinner." Itachi said automatically. Sakura sighed in relief that she had Itachi to back her up.

"Hmph," Tsunade glared at the two of them suspiciously.

"Uh," Sakura felt herself shrinking under Tsunade's gaze. "Wh-Why were you looking for me, Tsunade-shi-er-sama?"

"I wanted to confirm something." She said slowly, taking in the cooling atmosphere. Even though no one was no longer fighting, the tension seemed to have sky rocketed up to astronomical figures.

"Er… yes?" oh, Sakura wanted to smack herself at how dumb she sounded!

"Is it true?" Tsunade asked slowly, almost as if she wasn't able to believe that she was asking this question.

"Is what true?" Sakura wanted to crawl behind Itachi, no better yet, she wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out.

Tsunade's hands clenched into fists as she finally asked her question. "Is it true that you have super strength, similar to mine?"

'…_OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!!!'_

* * *

"Ah, Naruto, Konohamaru!" Saku yelled.

She had turned the corner, expecting that Konohamaru had accidentally stabbed himself with the kunai or something. She really hadn't expected to see Naruto sprawled on the ground, struggling to get up, and Konohamaru being held up in the air by a boy holding onto Konohamaru's collar.

"Sa-Saku-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Get out of here!"

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"Konohamaru-kun!" Moegi cried out, standing behind Saku in fear. Udon looked at the older shinobi nervously, afraid of what was going to happen next.

"Wha-What are we going to do?" he mumbled. "Those two over there looked real strong."

Of course, Saku definitely didn't miss the girl behind the boy who was chocking Konohamaru. The dark blonde haired girl was watching everything occurring before her in faint annoyance and… was that a hint of fear?

"Kankuro," she practically barked at him. "Stop playing around and drop the kid already, we didn't come here to start trouble."

"But this brat started it Temari." The one now revealed as Kankuro said, trying to appear to be the victim. He was doing a pitiful job though, especially since he was still holding Konohamaru in the air and he also had that sneer on his face.

"Naruto," Saku said slowly, "what happened here?"

"I was just running away from Konohamaru when Konohamaru accidentally bumped into this guy. I don't know what his problem is, but he got angry just because of a small little bump!" Naruto said, finally getting up.

"Why are you on the floor?" she asked confused.

"I don't know!" Naruto yelled. "I was charging after that guy to save Konohamaru when suddenly I tripped over something."

Saku's eyes immediately went towards the ground. She didn't see anything, so what made Naruto trip. Wires? No, then they would still be visible… unless…

* * *

"_Saku-chan, guess what makes Sunagakure so notorious?" Sakura asked, sitting next to Saku as they took their break from training._

"_Er… all the sand makes a great defense?"_

"_No, I meant the shinobis."_

"_I don't know," Saku said, looking at Sakura, anxiously wanting to know the answer. Since she was a brainy person, it was known that Saku tried to inhale information like oxygen._

"_They have this great long distance technique where it involves puppets and chakra!"_

"_Puppets?" Saku repeated._

"_Yeah, they use chakra strings to manipulate the body of the puppet and use it as a long-range attack. It's really useful and when a person masters it, they can be very deadly." Sakura said with a fond smile on her face. It looked as if she was remembering something or someone special. _**(AN: It's not Kankuro or Sasori.)**

"_That's really cool!" Saku said in awe._

"_Yeah, so if you ever see a shinobi of Suna, be careful because he or she could be a puppeteer!"_

* * *

"Puppets…" she mumbled.

"What did you say?" Kankuro started, almost in an angered, shocked way.

"I-."

"What are you doing Kankuro?" Saku stiffened as her ears caught the sound of slithering sand along with the low husky tone. There shouldn't be sand in Konoha. Well, that is, there shouldn't be sand outside the training fields of Konoha.

"Ah." She turned to look at Naruto when he spoke and found that he was staring at a nearby tree. Slowly, almost in fear, Saku looked where Naruto was staring at and found deadly sea-green eyes watching them in a predatory manner.

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: Cliff-hangerrr!!!**

**Please review!**


	7. Emerald

**Tsuki-chan: Another month later… another chapter! n . n**

**Enjoy!**

**I don't own Naruto and I'm getting kind of tired saying this! - . -U**

* * *

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded.

Saku sweat dropped. Only Naruto would be immune to the deadly bloodlust that filled the air. He never seemed to be aware of these tense moments unless the tension is aimed at him.

"Naruto," she said, reaching out for him. She wanted to be ready to grab him in case he said something stupid and got both of them killed.

"Saku-chan!" he yelled. "That guy must be really tough if these two are scared of him! Maybe if we tell him what this guy did, the red haired guy will make him apologize to Konohamaru and me!"

"Apologize?" Kankuro yelled. "You and your pipsqueak friend are the ones who bumped into me! Why the hell should I apologize?"

"Because you hurt Konohamaru just because of a little accident!" he yelled back. "Besides, it was just a light bump. Are you so weak that a small little bump like this could actually cause you pain?"

"Naruto," Saku hissed. "Can it."

Couldn't he sense that powerful bloodlust emitting from the red haired guy. It seemed to be growing stronger as the hostility between Kankuro and Naruto began to grow.

"Why you-."

"Kankuro," the mysterious boy said once again. "Shut up."

"Saku-san, I'm scared." Moegi whispered, grabbing Saku's shirt as she stood behind her. "Those guys don't appear nice."

"I agree," Udon said behind Saku as well. Those two were clutching onto her like a lifeline. Saku, if she could, would have also hid behind something for protection, but she knew she couldn't. Since apparently she was the only one who was conscious of the real danger, she would have to try her best to protect them.

"Don't worry," she said trying to console them. "I'll make sure that you guys aren't hurt."

Saku placed her hands beside her, making it so that if she needed it, she could quickly grab her kunai. Unfortunately, she hadn't really faced any powerful shinobi before because in every mission, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke made sure that she was out of harms way.

This was a really bad time to think about it but…

She had absolutely no battle experience compared to Naruto and Sasuke. If she wasn't careful, she could actually get a deep wound.

Her emerald eyes widened when she heard the soft noise of sand beginning to surround the red haired boy. Saku was torn three ways. Protect Udon and Moegi by pushing them out of the way, tell Naruto so that he could get out of the way with Konohamaru, or grab her kunai so that she had something to defend herself with since she didn't know what the guy was up to.

Well, she knew taijutsu and she could probably defend herself for a period of time, long enough for another older ranked shinobi to notice them.

So…

"Naruto, grab Konohamaru and run to somewhere that's safe!" she yelled while grabbing the shirts of Udon and Moegi. They yelped in surprise at the sudden action, but Saku ignored it. She pushed them as hard as she could, sending them flying backwards. They were being trained to be a shinobi; they wouldn't go crazy over a small injury.

"Saku-chan!" Naruto yelled. His body had instinctively listened to Saku's words and so he had a hold on Konohamaru. The two had landed where Udon and Moegi had ended up after Saku pushed them.

Naruto looked up, his blue eyes filled with fear at what was before him. Blood was pouring down from his Saku-chan.

"Saku-chan!" he yelled again.

Saku wanted to yell back at him, to tell him that she was okay and that he should stop being an idiot and find some help, but her body couldn't move. Her voice had abandoned her and it was just her and the enemy, the prey and the predator, stuck together.

She couldn't move either. Sand was wrapped around her body, preventing her from making any sudden movements. It was coiling itself around her body, holding onto her wrists so that she couldn't reach for a kunai or defend herself.

The guy was right in front of her. He had wild red hair that blew in an untamed fashion when a gust of wind breezed past them. Apathetic eyes seemed to observe her carefully.

Part of her was thinking sarcastically, was he wondering which part to chomp on first? She wouldn't be surprised if this guy ate her instead of killing her with a weapon. The bloodlust in the anger was filled with hunger… hunger for what, she wasn't exactly sure.

"You," his voice was low and husky, as if he didn't speak that often.

"Wha-What do you want?" Saku asked in a shaky voice. The sand was so powerful. It managed to slice her skin when it attempted to restrain her limbs. It wasn't a fatal wound, but it still stung.

"I've seen you before…" he murmured softly. Her question seemed to have slipped through his ears, unprocessed in his mind.

"Saku-chan!" Naruto yelled. He wildly charged at him, getting read to throw a punch at the red head that dared tried to hurt Saku.

"Let me go," Saku said squirming, but the sand only seemed to tightened. How such soft material could be so painful, she wasn't exactly sure.

His hand slowly reached forward and Saku instinctively flinched. What was he going to do next?

"Gaara!" Temari yelled frantically. Shit, was Gaara losing control right now? But there were no wounds on anyone. What had suddenly set Gaara off? "Gaara, please control yourself!"

"This isn't good Temari," Kankuro said grimly. He was reaching for the mysteriously wrapped object strapped behind his back.

"This is all your fault!" she hissed, her dark eyes flashing with anger. "I told you, you should have just let the boy go! Now Gaara's losing control and we'll get in trouble by Baki-sensei!"

Naruto was still running. He was so close now! "Don't worry Saku-chan, I'll save you from this guy!"

"Naruto-niichan!" Konohamaru cried out.

"Ah!" Saku gasped. There was a hand that was below Gaara's wrist, diverting his attempt to reach for Saku. Sand blocked the hand, disallowing said hand to touch Gaara. She stared at her savor. "Sa-Sasuke-kun."

"What's going on here?" he asked in a soft low tone that had a deadly edge behind him. His eyes were glued towards Gaara. He didn't move, even as the sand began to wrap itself around his wrist.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked.

"It's common courtesy to give your name first before asking for the name of another." Sasuke said coolly. The sand around his wrist was tightening, threatening to destroy his wrist.

"My name is Sabaku no Gaara," he answered in a cautious tone. Pale green eyes studied Sasuke carefully, assessing what sort of enemy he was.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he replied. The sand was slowly slithering down Sasuke's wrist. He noticed, though, that the sand that was currently tying Saku down wasn't moving. "Let go of her."

Naruto, who had skidded to a stop the moment Sasuke seemed to appear out of no where, was steaming in the background. "Gaaaahhh! Teme, why the hell do you always steal the spotlight from me?" he yelled, stamping his feet on the ground. "I was going to be the one who saved Saku-chan!"

"No," Gaara said. It was obvious that the two of them were ignoring Naruto. They were completely oblivious to everyone, but each other.

"What do you want from her?" Sasuke was standing between Gaara and Saku. Though the sand was now off of him, he could sense it getting ready to leap off of Saku the moment it knew that Gaara was in danger.

"That is none of your concern."

"She's my teammate. She may be a pain in the ass, but she's also a weakling so I need to watch out for her." Sasuke said, ignoring Saku's indignant shrieks of anger and curses. "If I don't, Aniki and Sakura-neechan will kill me."

"Sakura…" Gaara whispered.

"What's with you?" Naruto yelled, pointing a finger accusingly at Gaara. "First you go after Saku-chan, and now you're wondering about Sakura-neechan? Do you have a problem with pink haired girl's or do you just have a problem with people that have the name 'Saku'?"

"Naruto," Saku managed to say while squirming in the sand's grasp, "do me a favor and shut up!"

"Bu-But Saku-chan!" he whined.

"You're going to get me killed if you keep talking!" she hissed. The tension between Sasuke and Gaara was growing so strong that it was starting to choke her. "Just find Sakura-neechan or Itachi-niichan!"

"Gaara," Temari said hesitantly. "We need to get going… Baki-sensei will start looking for us if we're gone too long."

"She's right," Kankuro said instantly. If Gaara attacked a Konoha shinobi, there was a high chance of them being exempted from the Chuunin Exams. The Kazekage would definitely not be happy about that if that were to occur. "We should leave before he starts looking for us."

Gaara didn't move, his eyes were glazed as if he was picturing something from the past. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his body tense for any action. Was this guy going to make his move now?

Saku stiffened when the sand tightened itself around her. Gaara's pale eyes turned to hers. She flinched against her will at how frightening they appeared. He would kill her without any regret right now if he wanted to.

It was…

It was kind of like the time with Zabuza.

The power, the anger, the hatred that seemed to seep out of their skin like sweat…

The sand began to slowly slide off of her trembling body. It was as if whatever control that had been on it had been sucked away and they were just normal sand now, sliding off of her easily.

"Let's go," Gaara said turning to leave.

Saku collapsed to her knees, fearing overtaking her.

"Saku-chan!" Naruto yelled, running towards her. He grabbed her arm, helping her get off the floor. "Are you alright?"

"I… Wait!" she yelled.

Gaara paused, tilting his head backwards.

"Why are you people here anyways?" Saku asked, trying to control the fear that was growing within her.

Sasuke turned towards them as well. "She has a point there. Shinobi's from another country aren't allowed in another village unless they have a passport. State your reason for being here."

"You guys are Gennin as well," Temari said slowly, seeing as though Gaara was staying silent. "Then you must know about the Chuunin Exams."

"The Chuunin Exams?! What?" Naruto yelled. "Why the heck are these people here for the Chuunin Exams?"

"Baka, did you ever listen to the lectures Iruka-sensei gave back at the academy?" Saku yelled angrily, using her other hand to smack him on the head.

"Itai… Saku-chan," he whined. "You know I was too busy thinking about how to kick teme's ass, I don't have time to think about stuff like that!"

"Now that you know, we'll take our leave." Temari said, turning towards to leave. She wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Who knows what Gaara would do next.

As soon as they were gone, Saku released the breath she was holding and faced Naruto. "The Chuunin Exams are for other villages as well, meaning that other shinobis will be here as well to take the exam. Konoha shinobi's won't be the only ones participating in this Exam."

"I can't believe you don't know this, Naruto-niichan," Konohamaru said in a disappointed tone. He had his arms crossed, looking down at Naruto as he shook his head. He seemed to have appeared out of no where the moment the Suna-nin's were gone. "I'm still in the academy, but even I know this!"

"Are you sure he's your rival, Konohamaru-chan?" Moegi asked innocently, sounding genuinely confused.

"You should make someone like Sasuke-san your rival!" Udon suggested innocently as well. "He's Itachi-sama's little brother so he should be more of a rival to you than Naruto-niichan!"

"HEY!"

* * *

"There's… er… uh… a perfectly good explanation for all this!" Sakura yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Oh really?" Tsunade asked. "Well I'm ready for this so called perfectly good explanation."

Sakura couldn't turn to Itachi for help. He wouldn't know the answer either and he couldn't think of an excuse off the bat for something like this. It was widely known that the great Tsunade was the only one who had the ability to summon super human strength…

Until Sakura that is…

Shizune stood behind Tsunade, unsure of what to do. Why was Tsunade was scarily angry about all this?

"I… erm…"

"Do you, kunoichi," Tsunade began slowly, "understand how hard chakra control is?"

"I-."

"I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Tsunade yelled.

"Yes, yes I do!" Sakura yelled back, frightened out of her wits.

"Then you should know that even with perfect chakra control, it's hard to summon super human strength without proper teachings." Tsunade said, crossing her arms as she scowled at Sakura.

"Yes," Sakura was starting to feel like a little child that was being chastised by her teacher.

"Now tell me how you learned this!" Tsunade yelled. "I know you are not from the Uchiha Clan and even if you were, you wouldn't be able to copy my techniques. Having the ability to copy techniques is nothing if you do not have to skills to perform them."

"That's true," Sakura mumbled.

She wasn't sure what to do. What was she supposed to say to Tsunade right now? Oh why hadn't she thought of this before? It was obvious that Tsunade would come to investigate! Wait…

Why was Tsunade here already? She shouldn't be here until after Itachi arrives to…

Oh wait a minute…

Itachi isn't a part of Akatsuki so that doesn't mean Tsunade wouldn't need to arrive to heal Kakashi and Sasuke. There's also the chance with the Uchiha Clan still alive, Orochimaru's men would be forced into submission since there is more strength in Konoha.

Sakura had been so busy with Itachi making all his advances, Saku's training, and everything that she'd forgotten to think about some facts!

"Gaah, I'm so stupid!" Sakura yelled, smacking her face as punishment. "Why haven't I thought of this before?"

Itachi stared, watching as Sakura seemed to have a nervous breakdown right in front of him. Was it that hard to answer such a simple question? Mentally he noted to talk to her about it. Perhaps the things she seemed to hide from him will be revealed if he knew which questions to ask.

"Sakura, you're so stupid!" Sakura continued, apparently forgetting about a certain someone before her.

Tsunade was twitching mess; veins were popping all over the place as the young woman before her seemed oblivious to her presence.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION ALREADY!" she roared.

"Ri-Right!" Sakura squeaked. "Well… I have your super hard to do, super hard to master, super hard to copy, super human strength by… by…"

"Sakura-chan!" a voice chirped.

"Kakashi-sempai!" Sakura called back.

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Tsunade yelled.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Kakashi asked, flipping through his Icha Icha Paradise casually. "I see we're making new friends here."

"…I wouldn't exactly call this 'making new friends'." Sakura mumbled so that only she could hear it.

"Tsunade-sama, please calm down!" Shizune whispered, seeing the blonde haired woman getting ready to explode. "Please be rational!"

"I will as soon as this brat explains to me how the hell she has my super human strength! Even if you have perfect chakra control, it's impossible to master without a proper teacher! Meaning… it's impossible," Tsunade raised her fist, "to do this without a teacher!"

She slammed her fist into the ground. Sakura yelped when Itachi grabbed her by the waist, jumping upward to dodge the fissure that appeared on the ground. The two landed on the tree where Kakashi was situated on. The silver haired man seemed unbothered by the destruction below him.

"Now, now, Tsunade-sama, please be rational… as the young lady beside you has stated."

"Aren't you surprised that _the_ Tsunade, one of the great legendary shinobi's from Konoha, is here?" Sakura hissed.

"Nope," he said with a big smile.

"Why is that?" Sakura yelled.

"Because…" Kakashi said in a mysterious tone.

"Because?" Sakura growled.

"Just because!"

"KAKASHI-SEMPAI!"

"What are you doing here anyways, interrupting us?" Tsunade demanded. She was frustrated because of all the things that were going wrong. She had come here to find the girl who had the same super human strength as herself and when she does, she can't even talk to the girl properly without interruptions!

"Ah yes, Tsunade-sama, Hokage-sama has requested that you stop destroying the village and go greet him." Kakashi said with a big smile. It was obvious he was enjoying all the roughhousing. Entertainment didn't pass by him often when it didn't involve his cute little Gennin team.

"What does the old fart want?" Tsunade growled.

"I'm not sure but it'll be wise to go see him." Kakashi advised.

"…Shizune," Tsunade snapped.

"Ah, yes Tsunade-sama?" Shizune squeaked.

"C'mon, let's go see what he wants already." She grumbled. She suddenly turned her sharp amber eyes to Sakura who gasped, grabbing Itachi's hand in fear of what Tsunade might do to her. "As for you…"

"Yes?"

"I'll speak to you as soon as I'm done here, alright?"

"Yes… I understand!"

"Shizune, let's go." Tsunade grumbled.

"Yes!" Shizune looked up at the three, giving them an apologetic smile. "I'm terribly sorry for what Tsunade-sama has done. I'm not exactly sure what set her off like that."

"Me neither…" Sakura mumbled.

They were soon walking away, leaving the three alone. Itachi jumped down from the tree, still holding onto Sakura.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I think so…"

"Why is it that trouble always seems to find you, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked in a gleeful tone.

"Why is it that you're always there when I'm in trouble?" Sakura asked grouchily, glaring at him angrily.

"Why was it so hard to answer her question?" Itachi inquired quietly. His eyes were peering down at her, trying to see the answer from the expression on her face. Unfortunately, the only thing she had was a grim one.

"It's complicated." She simply stated.

Itachi wasn't' satisfied with this answer, but didn't pry any harder. He would be patient and find out later.

"Kakashi-sempai," Sakura asked exhausted, "if you're here that means you've already told Saku-chan, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto-kun about the Chuunin Exams, is that right?"

"Right!" he chirped.

"Great… I missed it!" Sakura grumbled.

"Don't worry, you'll get to see their happy faces the moment they endure the first exam." Kakashi said, putting the book away into his pouch. "I'm sure you'll be ecstatic, knowing that a certain someone is their first examiner."

"…you know something, don't you?" Sakura asked in suspicions.

"Maybe I do… maybe I don't?" he said cryptically.

"The first examiner is Morino Ibiki." Itachi said calmly.

"Really?" Sakura asked. Though she already knew who it was, she wasn't going to let these two know. They knew that she had been busy training Saku so she wasn't up to date with most information. Not that she needed to know since she already knew what was going to happen. "They're in trouble then."

"You think so?" Kakashi said with a grin.

"Kakashi," Sakura said warningly. He sweat dropped. Whenever she dropped the suffix, it meant she was going to do something evil.

"Let's just say that I trust my students." He said quickly, seeing her getting ready to kick him on the shin. Sakura had good aim. If she wanted to hit something, she always hit the mark.

"Right, c'mon Itachi-kun, let's go!" Sakura said, still holding his hand. "We should head back before Mikoto-chan starts getting weird ideas again… last time she thought we eloped and ran off to the Lightening Country."

Itachi nodded at her, but his attention was elsewhere. There was someone standing in a nearby tree, watching them as they were concealed within the shadows. Itachi was pretty sure it was a female watching them.

"Yes," he said softly. "Let's leave."

* * *

A figure jumped quickly through the rooftops in high speed, wanting to be extra careful so that no one would be able to see her. She managed to run quick enough so that the sun wasn't even able to cast her shadow.

She landed right on the balcony of a building. Landing on the balcony ground, she slid downward and sat on it, pressing her back against the balcony wall. Panting softly, she held her knees close to her.

"You saw her… didn't you?" a voice inquired.

She didn't answer him.

"You weren't supposed to see her until later…"

"I couldn't help it," the girl mumbled.

"You'll ruin the plan at this rate." He said calmly.

"I won't."

Emerald eyes flashed at her.

"You better not."

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: Please review!**


	8. Lingering Shadows

**Tsuki-chan: Don't own Naruto. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked tentatively.

"What is it?" the blonde haired woman almost growled, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked through the streets of Konoha. Most people gave her a low bow, both in fear and respect for her. Respect for her due to her reputation, but fear due to the frightening scowl on her face.

"I don't understand why you were so angry about that woman having super human strength, similar to your own." Shizune murmured, carrying Tonton. The pig let out a soft whine, feeling its master's apprehension.

"Shizune..." Tsunade began slowly. "You have been under my tutelage for quite some time..."

"Yes," Shizune said in a soft murmur. She had a feeling that Tsunade was going to tell her something important right now.

"Despite the years you've learned from me, why is it that you do not possess the same inhuman strength such as me?" Tsunade asked. Her golden blonde hair draped itself over her eyes, covering the amber orbs.

"Because," Shizune answered, "it isn't an easy task to master the ability to compile an exact amount of chakra into ones limbs before letting them all out at the exact same time in one shot. But still-."

"There is actually more to it than perfect chakra control." Tsunade interrupted her as the two turned from the corner to the street that would lead to the Hokage tower. Her eyes seem to glare at the building before her, but her gaze wasn't on the edifice, but at the site behind the tower. "Shizune, how do you think I came across this particular ability?"

"You don't mean-."

"Though I have perfected it into my own creation, the foundation of the super human strength is actually from a scroll created by my grandfather." The monument of the Hokages was reflected off of Tsunade's eyes. "That is the reason why I was so angered by the fact that this random girl seemed to possess that ability. The only other way she could have learned it... is by stealing my grandfather's sacred scroll."

* * *

"You should tell me where to find it... little shinobi." Emerald eyes twinkled in delight as the kunai seemed to dig deeper into the struggling shinobi's stomach. "If you don't, I might just accidentally slice you in half."

"N-Never..." the shinobi hissed. "You ju-just wait... I-I'll inform Hokage-sama and he-guck!"

The kunai dug itself deeper into his flesh. A sneer was on his tormentor's face. Why did they always resist? Of course, it's not like they'll ever be released, but at least the torment would end sooner if they just relieved themselves of the information their tormentor sought after.

"Aw, did that hurt?" his tormentor mocked. "I'm sorry, but you know, it's your village's fault. Because of their weakness, you ended up here... all alone... in pain... and soon..." emerald eyes flicked upwards towards the face of the shinobi. "...you'll be dead."

Light entered the dark room as the door slammed open. The rusted metal squealed in protest against the sudden movement. When completely opened, a figure entered the room.

"Are you done yet?" she asked gently, almost timidly. The girl began to enter the room slowly, trying her best to keep her gaze off of the bleeding shinobi.

The boy with emerald eyes scowled at the fact that the mood of his little game was ruined. "No, you just ruined everything."

"Ah," the girl took a step back, "I'm sorry..."

"Whatever," he grunted. The shinobi wearily lifted his eyes, turning his gaze from one to the other. What were these two children? How were they so powerful? "Since you stopped me... why don't you finish it?"

"...I don't want to." The girl murmured.

Emerald eyes flicked red for a brief moment. "What was that?" he asked in a low tone. The shinobi shivered when the tone of the boy's voice turned a shade darker than before. It was as if the previous little 'game' he had been enduring was nothing compared to the true cruelty that this boy could give.

"I... I said... I don't want to."

The boy disappeared into a blur before reappearing right before the girl. He punched her in the stomach, sending her sprawling backwards onto the wall behind her. She let out a muffled cry of pain, but he wasn't done. Grabbing her by the throat, he pushed her up against the wall.

"Who are you to deny me what I want?" he spat. "I gave you life; I brought you back from the dead. Do you know how much shit that caused me, just to do something like that?"

"Yes," the girl whimpered. Despite the lack of oxygen, she didn't dare try to pry off the boy's grip. "I'm sorry; pl-please... let me go!"

The boy tightened his grip instead. "Say you'll do as I say."

"I... I..."

"Say it!" he snapped.

"You bastard, let the girl go!" the shinobi yelled. The boy stilled before tilting his head towards the shinobi. The shinobi gulped involuntarily when he saw the powerful lust for blood evident in his eyes. It felt as if the boy was strangling him instead of the girl! Chocking in his own saliva, the shinobi tore his gaze away from the boy's.

Who were these people?

"Please, stop, I'll do as you say, just stop yelling!" the girl cried out, tears leaking from her eyes. "Kane, **please**!"

Emerald eyes turned back towards the girl before they softened. He released his grip on her throat and she fell, coughing, holding onto her throat. Kane took a step backwards before leaning forward close to her. Grabbing onto a lock of her hair, he gently, almost affectionately, pulled it aside and whispered into her ear.

"You're lucky you look so much like dear imouto-chan..." he murmured, ignoring how she was trembling like a leaf under his grasp. "Now... be a good girl and do as I say... finish the job..."

"H-Hai..." she whimpered, pulling herself off from the floor. Rubbing her sore neck, she turned her attention to the silent shinobi. As if realizing her intentions, the shinobi jerked backwards to escape. Unfortunately, the wall behind it made it impossible from him to create distance between the two.

"Get away from me!" he cried out.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

"Stay away!" he tried to push himself backwards, into the wall, as if to somehow make himself a part of it. Anything was fine as long as he got away from these two dangerous children.

"But... I have to listen to what Kane says..." she whispered before placing her palms before the face of the shinobi. The Konoha shinobi stared right into her palm before a loud cry of pain tore through his mouth. It didn't matter how loud he screamed, though, for they were deep underground.

Kane smirked before leaving the room, closing the door as quietly as possible behind him. He should just leave these two alone until it ended. After all, forcibly pulling someone's memory out from their minds was a very painful process. There was a kinder way to do it... but she knew that if she did it that way, Kane would punish her in return.

"Are you done?" a voice asked gruffly.

"Nice to see you near the interrogation room, Rei." Kane said with a grin, leaning against the wall. "What have you been up to?"

"I want to know the full plan, Kane." Rei said.

"The full plan?" Kane tilted his head. "Why? You got what you wanted so why do you sound so dissatisfied? Just be a good little boy and do as I say."

"But-."

"Shhhhh..." Kane placed his finger over his lips. "I think she's done."

"She?" Rei's eyes widened. "You sent her in there to do your job? What the hell were you thinking?"

Kane never got the chance to answer as the door began to open slowly. The silence was empowering as it echoed throughout the hallway. The only sound heard was the soft pattering of footsteps. A small hand, unstained of blood, touched the door frame, using it as leverage to pull herself out.

"You done?"

She nodded sullenly, looking to the side. Rei hurriedly rushed forward, embracing her into his arms. He whispered soothing words into her ears, in hopes of comforting her. She clung onto him like a life line, relishing at the gentle words.

"Good," Kane turned around, getting ready to leave. "Rei, get rid of the body. Make sure that it looks like it was... well... a rogue shinobi attack. After all, what kind of shinobi dies from an accident?"

"Kane!" Rei growled.

"As for you," he tilted his head and allowed his emerald eyes to grace the trembling girl's form. "I think it's time we have a little family time... isn't that right... **Haruko-chan**?"

* * *

"A-A-A-ACHOOO!" Sakura sneezed. It was actually loud enough to startle a few stray birds who took flight at the sudden noise. Rubbing her noise, Sakura apologetically smiled at Itachi who was looking at her blankly while holding his ears. He had been right next to her. "Sorry about that, someone must be talking about me."

Itachi placed his hand on Sakura's head, ruffling her pink hair. "Careful, you might catch a cold." He murmured.

"As if," she snorted. "I won't catch a cold anytime soon."

"That's what you said last time and you ended up staying in bed for a whole entire month." He said, reminding her last year's winter. Deciding that the weather was really great for endurance, Sakura had somehow persuaded Itachi to train with her in the freezing weather.

Sakura growled. "Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time! What about you? How come you weren't sick even though you and I went through the same thing?"

He smirked. "Because I'm an Uchiha."

"...ass..."

"I'd love to continue this vulgar conversation, but I have to go see Shisui. I promised him that I'll train with him." Itachi said, stopping before the fork on the road. One led to the training area and the other led towards the direction of his home. "Do you still want me to walk you home?"

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. You have fun in your little training."

"Training isn't supposed to be fun, Sakura." Itachi said with a scowl at her playful tone. Ever since he caught her trailing after Shisui, she had been trying to act dumb in fear that he would question her again.

Sakura just smiled, watching him walk away. Her eyes softened at the sight of his back, staring until he was gone. There was something bothering him, but he was perfectly hiding it from everyone. That is, everyone but Sakura. She saw right through him. Having spent all those years together, reading him was as easy as reading a picture book.

The gentle smile disappeared, replaced with a firm frown.

"What do you want?"

There was silence and she growled impatiently. Senbons shot out from her sleeves, stopping as her fingers caught them. With a flick of her wrist, she sent them flying towards a nearby tree on the right.

The thuds told her that the senbons made contact with the tree branch. There was no movement, but Sakura wasn't fooled. There was a kunai placed against her throat, threatening her ever so silently of the damage it could produce on her if she made a single mistake.

However, the kunai on her other hand was pointing towards the underside of her attackers chin. There were no killing intent or erratic chakra patterns. Whoever was attacking her was completely calm.

"What do you want?" she repeated slowly.

"As expected by the great Silent Blade of Konoha." A voice sneered. The person was so close that Sakura could actually smell the person's scent. It was filled with death, blood, and a gentle whiff of medicine. Recognition immediately flared up within Sakura's mind.

She said nothing to his comment.

"The Twin Blades of Konoha are a great adversary to the other nations." The person continued, unruffled by her lack of emotions. "The prodigy, Uchiha Itachi, and the medic, Haruno Sakura... every mission you guys have taken have all been a success. Each battle you fight together, you flow with such precision and harmony that it seems as if the two of you are one."

"Do I know you?" Sakura asked, closing her eyes.

"Playing stupid, are we?" the person asked in amusement.

"Playing?" she said. "I think not. I do not know who you are, but you are pushing me to my very limit. Patience has never been my forte. If you do not remove the kunai from her throat, I won't be held against my next action."

"Oh," the amusement filled tone seemed to grow. "The rumors are true. If Haruno Sakura is speaking to you in polite mannered tone, then that means that death will befall you soon. Tell me, why is that?"

"Respect for the dead." She murmured before his blade pierced through her throat. Her attacker didn't seem surprised when her body scattered into leaves. Instead, he blocked the blade that struck down from above.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. What a cocky bastard. He didn't even bother to hide his appearance from her. Was he that confident that he'd be able to kill her?

"Why do you hold back?" he teased. "Do you think you'll be able to take me in alive? I assure you, there is no way in hell that you will be able to capture me. Injure me, perhaps, but the likelihood of you being able to detain me is laughable."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I know you inside out." He said.

Sakura sprung backwards when he pushed her off of him. The weapons scrapped against each other, before flying apart as well. Landing a few feet away, Sakura held the kunai before her defensively, her opponent doing the same. The mocking smile never seemed to leave his face.

The gentle breeze that blew by flicked before her eyes, but didn't block her vision. Giving him a smirk of her own, Sakura spoke scornfully at him. "What makes you so sure?"

"Now, Sakura-san, that isn't information I should disclose to an Anbu so easily." The smile grew bigger when he heard her growl threateningly. "However, I'll tell you, seeing as though it'll probably prevent you from notifying the Hokage of the presence of me and Orochimaru-sama."

The disgusting bastard's name almost made her twitch.

"We know you so well because someone very close to you as revealed all this information to us." His dark eyes seemed to laugh her, mocking her for her stupidity. "This person has the ability to shatter your world... along with the world of everyone surrounding you."

"So you're hoping that by telling me this, I won't reveal your presence to anyone..." Sakura murmured to herself. "You want me to be filled with self-doubt and hesitation. Anyone could be an enemy and they could be listening in when I tell Hokage-sama about you."

"Good," he said. "I was afraid I would have to explain everything so that you could process it through your thick skull."

"I feel hatred coming from you." Sakura said with a smirk. "Did I do something to upset you, you bastard?"

She didn't move when he appeared before her, holding the kunai against her throat once more, except this time he did so before her. He was so close and that damn scent filled with blood and medicine would have driven her up the wall if it wasn't for the fact that she experienced it every day in the hospital.

There was barely any time to blink when she felt a rough pair of lips meet hers. Emerald eyes widened.

'_What the hell?'_ she thought. _'Why the hell is he kissing?!'_ this was something she hadn't anticipated. Sakura had thought he would threaten her again or whatever, but he was kissing her! Control over her body seemed to return, but by that time he broke away from the kiss.

That annoying smile of his grew at the sight of her red lips. The sharp nips he had splayed on them would make sure that the redness lingered for a while. He licked his own lips, enjoying the light essence of her lingering on his lips.

"Bastard!" Sakura slammed her knee into his stomach, adding chakra into it. He flew backwards, but he twisted and landed on his feet on the tree. Jumping off, he landed on the ground with a flip. He wiped the blood that was dribbling down his chin with the back of his hand, but the grin never disappeared.

"I'll let you get away with that today," he said cheerfully. "Next time though... the price will be much higher..."

Unwillingly, Sakura's body felt a chill at his words. Dark promises seemed to underlie his words. She knew if she were to meet again, a kiss wasn't the only thing that was going to get stolen from him. He disappeared before she could stop her.

Angrily, Sakura punched a nearby tree, making sure to hold back on the chakra.

What the hell was that about?

Why was he suddenly so flirty and everything?

Before today, she had never even spoken to him!

"What are you planning... Kabuto?" she murmured, running her fingers through her pink hair. He was a tricky bastard. He followed Orochimaru, but there was always a hidden agenda he kept to himself.

She turned to leave, heading towards the direction of the Uchiha compound. It didn't matter what his plan was. Sakura was going to stop him. There was going to be no repeat of the past...

Never again...

* * *

**Tsuki-chan: Review, review, review!!!**


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